Schools (Mental Health Professionals) Bill [HL]

1 Duty of school governing bodies in England in relation to mental health provision

(1)

The governing body of a state funded school in England has a duty to make
arrangements for provision in the school of an education mental health practitioner or a school counsellor.

(2)

In subsection (1) —

(a)

“state funded school” means a school funded wholly or mainly from
public funds, including, but not limited to—

(i)

an Academy school, an alternative provision Academy or a 16
to 19 Academy established under the Academies Act 2010;

(ii)

community, foundation and voluntary schools (within the
meaning of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998);

(b)

“education mental health practitioner” means a person with a
graduate-level or postgraduate-level qualification of that name earned through a course commissioned by NHS England; and

(c)

for a school with 100 or fewer pupils, the duty may be satisfied by
collaborative provision between several schools.

2 Duty of the Secretary of State in relation to mental health provision in schools in England

(1)

The Secretary of State must give, or must make arrangements for the giving
of, financial assistance to any person for or in connection with the duty in section 1 .

(2)

There is to be paid out of money provided by Parliament—

(a)

any expenditure incurred under or by virtue of this Act by the
Secretary of State, the Treasury or a government department, and

(b)

any increase attributable to this Act in the sums payable under any
other Act out of money so provided.

3 Extent, commencement and short title

(1)

This Act extends to England and Wales only.

(2)

This Act comes into force on the day on which it is passed.

(3)

This Act may be cited as the Schools (Mental Health Professionals) Act 2024.