The UK needs investment in mental health and education – not Wes Streeting sneering at people who are still struggling after the Covid-19 pandemic.

That is what we should draw from two current news stories.

In the first, Streeting has claimed that mental illness is seen to be rising because of “overdiagnosis”, with “too many people being written off” and “not getting the support they need”.

He was speaking in support of the plan to “tighten” eligibility criteria for sickness and disability benefits; it seems people with mental illnesses are going to be told they are malingerers.

The BBC’s report says

More than half of the rise in working-age disability claims since the Covid pandemic is related to mental health or behavioural conditions, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The second story tells us that the poorest children in society are falling behind their richer classmates in education – apparently because Covid-19 has led to a “serious and profound shift” in attitudes to attendance.

Here’s the BBC again:

The latest statistics for persistent absence show 15% of primary children in England have missed at least one in ten days of school this school year – up from about 8% before Covid.

The gap – which is measured using GCSE results – would reduce from 19 months to 15 months of learning if school attendance was the same for all pupils, [a report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI)] says.

[The] team looked specifically at children who have received free school meals in the past six years, which means the family income is less than £7,400 a year after tax and not including benefits.

Natalie Perera, from the EPI, said it is the first time “a very clear link” has been made between how much children from the lowest income families attend school, and how far behind other pupils they have fallen.

Ms Perera said more research was needed to understand why these children struggled to be in school, with possible factors including poor housing and mental health.

Certainly the mental health of the parents should be considered. This Writer would check whether they were in receipt of sickness or disability benefits for a mental health problem – this seems likely because it would explain why these children were in poverty in the first place.

If so, then the forthcoming squeeze on benefits, in which people with mental illnesses are likely to be labelled “malingerers” and forced to look for work, could make matters even worse.

These reports come at a time when the UK’s apparent failure to recover from the pandemic in comparison with other countries’ successes has come under the spotlight.

The significant rise in health-related benefit claims in the UK contrasts with trends in other developed countries, where such claims have remained stable or decreased.

So what’s the solution?

Rather than cutting benefits, it would seem that investing in comprehensive mental health services is crucial.

This would include expanding access to counselling, therapy, and community support programmes to address the root causes of mental health issues contributing to increased benefit claims.

In education, it seems to me that targeted strategies to improve school attendance among disadvantaged students are essential.

Schools could develop engagement programs, provide additional resources for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and foster stronger partnerships with families to emphasize the importance of consistent attendance.

Adopting a holistic approach that addresses the interconnectedness of health, education, and social services can lead to more effective interventions.

Collaborative efforts between government agencies, non-profit- and community organizations can ensure that policies are comprehensive and address the multifaceted nature of these challenges.

As Minesh Patel, associate director of policy and campaigns for Mind, said in the article about Streeting, mental health services are at breaking-point because “we have deep problems of poverty, low-paid and insecure work and systemic racism in this country”. These are all the result of deliberate policy by the former Tory government.

In fairness, Streeting did say that the government has pledged to recruit 8,500 more mental health staff to cut waiting lists.

But it is clear that more needs to be done – and can be done, using the resources currently at the disposal of the government and other organisations.

It is crystal clear that cutting benefits for struggling people is not the answer.

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