To consider the following Motion submitted in the names of Councillors Sheard and Kendrick;
"This Council notes that :
• 1 in 6 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
• The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the second most common health condition worldwide by 2020.
• Mental ill health costs some £105 billion each year in England alone.
• People with a severe mental illness die up to 20 years younger than their peers in the UK.
• There is often a circular relationship between mental health and issues such as housing, employment, family problems or debt.
This Council believes that:
• Kirklees Council has a responsibility to provide support to its citizens across the district and in so doing contribute collectively with other local authorities to address this growing national problem.
• As a Local Authority we have a crucial role to play in improving the mental health of everyone in our community and tackling some of the widest and most entrenched inequalities in health.
• Mental health should be a priority across all the local authority’s functions, from public health, adult social care and children’s services to housing, planning and public realm.
• All Councillors, whether members of the Executive or Scrutiny and in our community and casework roles, can play a positive role in championing mental health on an individual and strategic basis.
This Council resolves:
To sign the Local Authorities’ Mental Health Challenge run by Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Foundation, Mind, Rethink Mental Illness, Royal College of Psychiatrists and Young Minds.
To commit within budget and request that where appropriate Cabinet acts to;
- Appoint an Elected Member as ‘mental health champion’ across the Council
- Identify a ‘lead officer’ for mental health to link in with colleagues across the Council
- Follow the implementation framework for the mental health strategy where it is relevant to the Council’s work and local needs
- Work to reduce inequalities in mental health in our community
- Work with the NHS to integrate health and social care support
- Promote wellbeing and initiate and support action on public mental health
- Tackle discrimination on the grounds of mental health in our community
- Encourage positive mental health in our schools, colleges and workplaces
- Proactively engage and listen to people of all ages and backgrounds about what they need for better mental health
- Sign up to the Time to Change pledge."
Decision:
Motion approved as amended;
“That this Council notes that:
* 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
* The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the second most common health condition worldwide by 2020.
* Mental ill health costs some £105 billion each year in England alone.
* People with a severe mental illness die up to 20 years younger than their peers in the UK.
* There is often a circular relationship between mental health and issues such as housing, employment, family problems or debt.
* People with mental health problems do not enjoy the same access to services and to treatment as those with physical health problems. 75% of children and young people experiencing a mental health problem are thought to not access any treatment. And only 15 per cent of people who might benefit from talking therapies are actually getting such treatment.
* Until this April there were no maximum waiting times for treatment for mental ill health, and we urge the government to use the Spending Review to show how these will be implemented and extended to cover all ages and all mental health services.
* The financial incentives in the NHS discriminate against mental health. As a result, whenever resources are under pressure, mental health is the first to lose out.
* Too many mentally ill people are being shunted around the country in search of a bed – and in some cases children are being admitted to adult wards due to shortages – a practice which would never be tolerated in physical health.
* People who lose their jobs are not having the mental health impact of unemployment taken into account, and so lack treatment that might help get them back into work.
* Too many children and adults are still ending up in police cells rather than hospital when going through a mental health crisis.
* Too many people are inappropriately in prison essentially because they suffer mental ill health or have a learning disability including autism.
* It is very troubling that certain ethnic groups, particularly African-Caribbean and African – are over-represented in acute mental health services and locked and secure services. People from these backgrounds face more frequent use of coercion, suffer more use of physical restraint, end up in contact with the police more often than others and have less access to talking therapies.
* Vital research to gain a better understanding of mental illness and to establish the most effective treatments is compromised by inadequate funding. Whilst mental ill health accounts for around 23% of the overall disease burden, it only receives about 5% of research funding.
This Council believes that:
* Kirklees Council has a responsibility to provide support to its citizens across the district and in so doing contribute collectively with other local authorities to address this growing national problem.
* As a Local Authority we have a crucial role to play in improving the mental health of everyone in our community and tackling some of the widest and most entrenched inequalities in health.
* Mental health should be a priority across all the local authority’s functions, from public health, adult social care and children’s services to housing, planning and public realm.
* All Councillors, whether members of the Executive or Scrutiny and in our community and casework roles, can play a positive role in championing mental health on an individual and strategic basis.
This Council resolves:
To sign the Local Authorities’ Mental Health Challenge run by Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Foundation, Mind, Rethink Mental Illness, Royal College of Psychiatrists and Young Minds.
To encourage all members of council to sign up to the cross-party, cross-society Equality for Mental Health Campaign aimed at persuading the Government to help reduce the suffering of those with mental ill health by increasing investment into the provision of mental health services.
To commit within budget and request that where appropriate Cabinet acts to;
- Appoint an Elected Member as ‘mental health champion’ across the Council
- Identify a ‘lead officer’ for mental health to link in with colleagues across the Council
- Follow the implementation framework for the mental health strategy where it is relevant to the Council’s work and local needs
- Work to reduce inequalities in mental health in our community
- Work with the NHS to integrate health and social care support
- Promote wellbeing and initiate and support action on public mental health
- Tackle discrimination on the grounds of mental health in our community
- Encourage positive mental health in our schools, colleges and workplaces
- Proactively engage and listen to people of all ages and backgrounds about what they need for better mental health
- Sign up to the Time to Change pledge."