Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to address the higher incidence of mental illness among young LGBT people.

Alistair Burt

In line with guidance published by NHS England in August, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners as proposed in Future in Mind. These include plans for how CCGs will ensure that the needs of all vulnerable groups are met locally, including the needs of those with protected characteristics. This includes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) children and young people. In addition, the guidance issued by NHS England in August made specific reference to the need to promote equality and address health inequalities in the LTPs.

While Future in Mind did not specifically mention LGBT teens as a vulnerable group, the Vulnerable Groups and Inequalities Task and Finish group Report, one of four task and finish group reports published alongside Future in Mind, did specifically mention and consider LGBT children and young people.

CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to tackling health inequalities including inequalities in mental health when planning how they will commission services.