Around one in 10 children are believed to be living with a mental health condition, yet today MPs said that the government’s “unambitious” plans to change the system could ignore hundreds of thousands of children.

The joint report from the Education and Health and Social Care committees was particularly damning on a lack of plans to prevent mental ill health in the first place.

In their report The Government’s Green Paper on mental health: failing a generation, the MPs say that the narrow scope “does not take several vulnerable groups into account”, will put “more pressure on the teaching workforce without sufficient resources” and “the funding for the Green Paper’s proposals is not guaranteed and contingent on an unspecified level of success.”

Here are six ways, the report says, that the mental health system for young people could be made better:

1. Place a greater emphasis on prevention, early intervention and dealing with the root causes of child mental health problems. “A lack of focus on the early years means that opportunities are being missed to promote emotional resilience and prevent mental health and wellbeing problems later in life,” says the report.
2. Consider the impact of exams and the narrowing curriculum on children. Young people told the committee that high-stakes exams were a considerable source of pressure. And MPs said that they do not think that the effect of the current exam system - or the “relentless focus” on EBacc subjects - had been adequately considered.
3. Take care of vulnerable groups. MPs identified several key vulnerable groups of children, including those who have been excluded or are in alternative provision; children moving in and out of care; those in the criminal justice system; and young people who are not in education, employment or training. These children are more likely to need mental health support and the government should ensure that it is providing it.
4. Target funding for mental health support into areas of social disadvantage and inequality. Poverty can put pressure on young people’s mental health through poor housing and unsafe neighbourhoods, the committee heard.
5. Know what is going on now. Schools and colleges have already reduced the amount they have invested in mental health services, says the report, and an unintended consequence of the proposals could be that schools cut their provision further, assuming that the planned mental health support teams will be there instead. So the government needs to know what schools currently provide, what the peak level of provision was and monitor the impact of any changes.
6. Show us the money. The government wants all schools to identify and train a designated senior lead for mental health, but it needs to show how this will not overburden the existing workforce. The government should commit to ensuring adequate support for teachers and school staff - or provide funding to schools to enable them to hire a professional for this role. The committee suggests that the government publishes the details of how it intends to fund all the policies in the paper.