Mr. John Church:

I thank the Deputy. The short answer is that we do not really know but we are starting to see these. The basis of our intervention in Childline and the ISPCC is helping children to build resilience in order that they can cope with these adverse childhood events. There is much research to show that everyone will encounter adverse childhood events and this is certainly a significant event, as we can see. The data are there and the committee can see from our colleagues in Barnardos and within Childline that the anxiety levels and tensions were through the roof. The first indication we got was 27 March, which was when real lockdown happened, and from then on we a saw 30% increase in our calls to Childline. Much of what happened at that stage was about fear, the fear of not only getting the virus but for loved ones and of one's grandmother getting it, which were the initial calls we received in Childline.

As we went on people began to realise that this was not going to last just a few months or was just time off school - which is usually great - but was going to go on for much longer. With the announcements yesterday it looks like some of the restrictions are also going to go on for a little bit longer.

From our perspective, our hope is that it highlights the need to at least match mental health services with the investment that we have in the physical health services side. Those mental health services are significantly undervalued. If one looks at the WHO recommendations, it recommends that 12% to 14% should be invested in those services and we are currently at 5%. We are way off in the supports we provide to young children. If one looks at the waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, these are unacceptable. If anything, we need to act very quickly in starting to look after the children and young people because these adverse childhood events will impact society later in life.