The Liberal Democrats have said that if they win the general election, they would increase taxes on social media giants and companies such as Amazon and Google to fund the hiring of mental health professionals in state schools across England.
The salary for the new workforce will be three times the amount companies pay in a so-called “digital services tax”.
According to recent NHS figures, around 340,000 children and young people are currently on waiting lists for mental health services in England.
The Conservatives said they had already increased training places for mental health nurses, while Labour said they would provide mental health support in all schools.
One in five children and young people aged between eight and 25 suffered from a “suspected mental disorder” last year, according to the latest NHS report.
There is currently a range of mental health supports available to schools for students, including funding for training for existing teachers and access to external mental health support teams that provide early intervention for issues such as anxiety, with the aim of reaching half of schools by March 2025.
NHS data compiled by the House of Commons Library for the Liberal Democrats found that in the three months to the end of March this year, 336,886 people under the age of 18 were still waiting for their first appointment with a mental health professional.
The national average waiting time is just over six months (187 days) but there are large regional variations, with some areas, such as St Helens in Merseyside, waiting times for children and young people are more than double that (444 days).
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said thousands of children were being left “in limbo” while waiting for mental health treatment.
Their manifesto promises mean state-funded school governing boards will be obliged to provide access to a centrally funded qualified mental health professional or school counsellor, and smaller schools with 100 pupils or fewer will be able to share access to the same person.
Mr Davie said the plan would be funded by a tax on social media giants, which are “a big part of the problem”.
The Digital Services Tax will be introduced in April 2020 and will affect large multinational companies that operate social media services, online search engines or online marketplaces aimed at UK consumers.
This is a 2% tax levied on companies with revenues of more than £500 million worldwide and £25 million in the UK.
The Office for Budget Responsibility predicts that the tax could raise around £760 million in 2024-25, and triple the rate could raise a further £1.5 billion.
“We've also almost doubled the number of mental health nursing training places to ensure we have the specialist workforce we need to care for patients over the long term,” Conservative Mental Health Minister Maria Caulfield said.
Labour's Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Labour will put mental health support in every school and every community hub, funded by ending private school tax cuts.”
