MP presents petition to Parliament calling for better mental health funding for young people in Cumbria
Today (4th December), local MP Tim Farron will present a petition to Parliament, which calls for the Government to properly invest in preventative mental health care for young people in Cumbria.
Back in 2015, the coalition Government made a spending promise of £25m per year for Cumbria's public health budget, but the Conservative Government broke this promise and now allocates £7m less than originally promised for the county.
As a result, each year Cumbria spends just 75p per child on preventative mental health care.
The petition, which has been signed by over 2,600 people, urges the Government to give Cumbria the money it needs to help keep our young people mentally healthy and support those who are in the early stages of experiencing mental health problems.
Tim said: "I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has signed and shared our petition with friends and family members.
"Preventative mental health care is massively important in supporting our young people in the early stages of mental health problems, so that those problems don't become so severe.
"It's frankly an insult to every single young person in our county that just 75p is spent on giving them that vital care.
"They deserve better and we'll keep demanding better for them until the Government start listening to their needs."