A spokesperson for NHS England said the funding for MHSTs was coming from ‘ICB baseline allocations rather than a specific pot of money'.
The Local Government Association has called for the Government to ‘review, embed and enhance the MHST in school model', which is being rolled out nationally by 2029-30.
Last year health secretary Wes Streeting claimed the Government was ‘transforming mental health services for children – hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies and getting waiting lists down so children can have the best possible start in life', which he said was ‘backed by an extra £680m in government funding'.
However, the Government has been unable to break down how the £680m is being spent, with the funding for MHSTs coming from ICBs baseline allocations, signalling it is not new or ring-fenced money. This means ICBs must absorb the cost from within their existing resources and no additional or protected funding stream has been created.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘Spending on mental health support will increase in 2025-26 relative to 2024-25 and will reach record levels of investment: £15.6bn. That's an increase of £688m in cash terms across children's and adults' services.
‘ICBs are able to prioritise where money is spent. However, the mental health investment standard requires them to meet a certain level of funding for mental health.'
Head of health at the Institute for Public Policy Research charity, Sebastian Rees, said: ‘While Government is right to point out that overall mental health spending is rising, it is also falling as a share of total health spending. Ministers are correct that spend alone is not a measure of success, but that makes it all the more important to ask whether current investment is sufficient given the scale of need, particularly in children and young people's mental health services.
‘There is still no dedicated new funding for children and young people despite rapidly growing demand. Delivering the commitment to roll out MHSTs in all schools by the end of this Parliament will require additional investment, alongside far greater transparency over how mental health funding is allocated so we can see whether it is genuinely improving outcomes for young people.'
A Whitehall source insisted there was enough funding in last year's Spending Review to expand MHSTs to reach full national coverage by 2029-30 as part of the department's overall settlement.
They said: ‘For too long, the NHS has been run by a series of input-based targets that micromanage frontline leaders while failing to ensure improvements in patient experience and care. We are setting frontline leaders free to innovate and run their services as they know best – this is why MHST funding is no longer ringfenced and is now part of ICB baselines.'
