Two sixth formers petitioned councillors to provide school and college-based counselling for children and young people seeking mental health support.
The students, from Brighton, Hove And Sussex VI Form College (BHASVIC), presented a petition signed by more than 2,000 people to Brighton and Hove City Council at Hove Town Hall last week.
The pair, Fi Abou-Chanad and Tally Wilcox, had instant success as the council revealed that it was planning to budget £200,000 a year on a pilot school-based counselling service. The initial details were published in the draft budget last week.
The three-year pilot scheme would be much cheaper than referring pupils to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), councillors were told.
The BHASVIC students addressed a meeting of the full council on behalf of a community group called Brighton and Hove Citizens in the council chamber on Thursday (1 February).
They had previously persuaded the council to become the first in the country to declare a mental health emergency in December 2022.
Miss Wilcox said that, although elections meant that the council had many new members since the mental health emergency was declared, the desire of young people to have their needs addressed remained strong.
She said: “Our work has turned many private pains into a collective cry for help. People were queuing to add their names to our sheets and even texted all their friends and neighbours about our online petition.
“A citywide discussion was happening. Your words and actions today need to be a turning point which marks the beginning of a new era for me and my friends – an era defined by actions and not just promises.”
Miss Abou-Chanad said that she was hopeful that the move would “pave the way for a better future” for young people in Brighton and Hove.
She said: “We have heard the commitment to face challenges head on and to ensure that no one is left behind in the shadows of mental health struggles. We’re not here to dwell on words alone.
“Today is a key date in our city’s history. The draft budget demonstrates you have heard us and have acted on our call to action.”
The petitioners said that six counselling sessions cost about £450 but a referral to CAMHS was £3,000.
Labour councillor Andrei Czolak cited the Children’s Society saying that, in the past three years, the likelihood of young people having mental health problems had risen by 50 per cent to an average of one in six pupils.
Councillor Czolak said: “Labour intends to make sure mental health support is available in our schools.
“We made this a manifesto commitment and hope that will address the imbalance between students whose families can afford to pay for private counselling and those who cannot.”
Green councillor Chloë Goldsmith said that the strong support showed how important the issue was for young people.
Councillor Goldsmith said: “As a former user of CAMHS, I am unfortunately quite aware of the many shortcomings we have and the way that we treat young people who need help with their mental health.
“Things have not improved at all since I was a teenager and the service has become more overstretched while more and more young people suffer.”
Conservative councillor Emma Hogan, an NHS psychiatrist, said that £1.1 billion was being spent on children and young people’s mental health services and the government had recently published a suicide prevention strategy.
Councillor Hogan said: “As the petitioners point out, the cost of counselling within schools and colleges could be far cheaper, relieving both financial and patient pressures on NHS services.
“This would mean that for those who do need more support than school or college-based counselling, there may be shorter waiting times and more funding to spend on fewer people using the service.”
The petition was referred to the council’s Strategy, Finance and City Regeneration Committee which is due to meet on Thursday (8 February).
