We鈥檝e called for investment in a wide range of areas where counselling would enhance the Government鈥檚 objectives, while delivering a significant return for the public purse.

Our 12-point response to the Government鈥檚 Spending Review includes evidence on how expanding access to counselling in schools and reviewing counselling recruitment pathways could deliver on the Government鈥檚 growth mission, as well as provide a sound return for taxpayers.

Support needed for vital third sector services

It also recommends tax incentives for employers to encourage greater uptake of accessible mental health support and ensuring sustainable investment for vital third sector services who provide critical additional capacity to statutory services.

We know there are significant challenges. Lord Darzi鈥檚 recent NHS analysis showed that more than one million people were waiting for mental health services and that long waits have become the norm. Some 345,000 people are waiting more than a year for a first appointment with mental health services. Unfortunately, 109,000 of those waiting are children and young people.

Economic cost of rising mental health issues

We also cite the growing evidence that mental health issues are having a massive impact on business productivity and are a significant barrier for many people who want to work. The economic cost of mental ill health in England is estimated to be over 拢110 billion per year.

Our submission recommends better utilising counsellors and psychotherapists to help the Government meet its commitments to enhance mental health support in schools and youth hubs, to expand the mental health workforce in the NHS and to enhance their objectives to help more people find and stay in work.

Untapped pool of counsellors聽

Martin Bell, our Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said: 鈥淭oo many people are falling through the cracks in current services when they need access to support from trained therapists. This includes young people who don鈥檛 meet the threshold for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), people languishing on NHS waiting lists or those struggling to keep working due to their poor mental health.

鈥淢any of our 72,000 members could help meet rising demand through their life changing work.

鈥淥ur response provides evidence that employing our members appropriately in NHS, education, community and workplace settings will provide extensive health, social and economic benefits, as well as supporting the Government鈥檚 drive for economic growth, by tapping into this vast pool of underutilised talent, skill and experience鈥�.

Our key recommendations for the Spending Review

  • Make the NHS Psychotherapeutic Counselling Core Training pathway permanent.

  • Invest in the NHS mental health workforce pipeline, tapping into the vast pool of underutilised talent, skill and experience within the existing counselling and psychotherapy workforce.

  • Increasing capacity of NHS Talking Therapies and expanding the counselling and psychotherapy interventions currently recommended by NHS England through the NHS Talking Therapies manual.

  • Develop a national service specification that reduces the deficit of service provision between the upper clinical thresholds of NHS Talking Therapies and the clinical entry thresholds for Community Mental Health Teams.

  • Resource Integrated Care Systems so they can fulfil their potential as drivers of change and improvement.

  • Tackle the mental health crisis facing our children and young people through universal counselling interventions across all England鈥檚 primary schools, secondary schools, further education colleges and sixth form settings.

  • Utilise the counselling workforce within the Government's commitment to implement Young Futures Hubs.

  • Ensure vulnerable people supported into the right kind of work or work-related activity without fear of any sanctions, which can lead to more sustainable health and economic outcomes.

  • Learn from previous employment support programmes to ensure services provide ongoing, accessible, flexible and inclusive support.

  • Extend tax incentives to employers to facilitate greater uptake of accessible mental health support, including workplace counselling.

  • Invest in third sector services providing vital psychological support that sits outside, but provides additional capacity to, statutory provision of NHS Talking Therapies.

  • Remove VAT on counselling and psychotherapy services provided by counsellors and psychotherapists on a Professional Standards Authority Accredited Register.

Read our full submission.