I am very pleased that school children in Gloucestershire are set to benefit from £5m Trailblazer funding which will see specialist mental health support in schools and waiting times for other mental health services to improve.
NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group have worked with 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and local charity TIC+ to submit our county’s successful bid to secure funding.
This funding will be used to set up four Mental Health Support Teams in a number of schools including primary, secondary and special schools and other settings.
The teams will be staffed by experienced, qualified counsellors working alongside NHS staff. The balance of skills, experience and training within the teams will be flexible in order to meet the specific needs of the children in each type of school.
The teams will focus on improving the resilience of students in schools and providing early support to prevent issues from escalating. They will also identify children and young people who need more specialist help.
Some funds will also be put towards reducing the length of time young people wait for treatment, following a referral to specialist mental health services.
This new funding adds to the budget increases we have seen in key areas from GCC already this year.
Despite keeping council tax low – amongst the very lowest of any county council in England – the Conservative team at Shire Hall have invested £2m extra to protect older people and £11m extra for children and young people.
In addition, we are now seeing the second year of the Conservative £150m investment road resurfacing programme. In its first year, this saw 164 projects carried out across the Gloucestershire, with over 67 miles of roads resurfaced and 37 miles surface dressed.
Since the start of April 2018, the council has repaired almost 50,000 potholes on Gloucestershire roads – with over 99% repaired on time.
It is great to hear about this extra funding for vital services in Gloucestershire.