Our mission for the General Election

°Â±ð’r±ð urging the next Government to adopt policies that promote and enhance mental wellbeing, remove barriers to accessing mental health services, and fully utilise the skills and expertise of counsellors, psychotherapists and therapeutic coaches.Ìý

It’s essential to see action on tackling social issues such as poverty, racism and ableism, and to expand support to counselling and psychotherapy for preventable mental health conditions.Ìý

Our manifesto and key asks

To read all our asks in full download our Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ General Election 2024 Manifesto (PDF 0.1MB)

What we're asking of the next Government:

Lead a stronger vision for our nation's mental health

  • Appoint a cabinet-level Minister for Mental Health to lead a new cross Government 10-year mental health and wellbeing planÌý

Improve access and choice

  • Deliver counselling across all England’s primary schools, secondary schools, further education colleges and sixth form settings
  • Fund the roll out of early help community hubs for 11 to 25-year-olds across England
  • Recruit more trained counsellors and psychotherapists into the NHS to meet workforce expansion targets and increase access to treatment
  • Expand the range of evidence-based psychological interventions available in the NHSÌý

Support services and practitioners

  • Provide tax incentives to support more employer investment in workplace counselling and therapeutic coaching
  • Ensure that third sector mental health providers are given sustainable contracts and appropriate funding for NHS referralsÌý

Remove VAT

  • Remove VAT on counselling and psychotherapy services to improve accessibilityÌý

Ban conversion therapy

  • Bring forward a ban on conversion therapy within the next ParliamentÌý

Support our asks by writing to your candidate

°Â±ð’r±ð asking our members to join us in advocating for better mental health support across the UK. Ìý

We've developed a simple template which sends an email to all prospective parliamentary candidates in your constituency. This is a huge opportunity to promote the benefits of counselling and psychotherapy to the next group of MPs in Westminster and to demonstrate that the mental health of the nation matters.Ìý

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Who is standing in your constituency?

There will be a range of candidates campaigning for votes in your constituency.

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Register to voteÌý

You can ensure you are registered to vote by clicking the following link. Deadline for applying is 11:59pm on 18 June 2024.

To vote please see:

Feedback

If you do speak to your candidate about counselling and psychotherapy over the election period, please feedback to us at publicaffairs@bacp.co.uk

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