MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee are set to embark on a wide-ranging inquiry into rural mental health, it has been announced today.

Farming and other agriculture-related professions are known to face particular mental health challenges, with higher-than-average rates of depression and suicide. Improving the overall quality of mental health provision has been an increasing priority for the Government and the NHS in recent years.

The Chair of the EFRA Committee, Neil Parish MP, said:

“I’m pleased we’re starting this vital work. It’s important we talk openly about these issues and the help that is available. Mental health matters to us all. But for some people working in rural communities there are special factors that are often hidden in a world that sometimes feels like it is driven by those living in towns and cities.

“I’m a farmer myself and I know how people in our communities can sometimes suffer from isolation. That’s not to mention how insecure incomes, volatile weather and many other issues can be real stress factors.

“We hope to look into all of these subjects and more – then make recommendations about how the government can improve mental health provision in rural communities.

“I encourage everyone with a take on this subject – whether professional or personal – to take part in our inquiry. The ways to let us know your views are set out below.

“A minister, a pub landlord and a mayor … it sounds like the start of a really bad joke, doesn’t it?”

The Rev Matt Finch laughs as he recalls the origins of a novel attempt to create a paragon of mental health in the small Cambridgeshire parish of St Ives. The three men – who walked not into a bar but a coffee shop – are trying to bring a smile back to the face of a community that has suffered its share of recent blows.

As a collective, they hope their string of initiatives to reach people in their darkest hour could establish St Ives as a model town for others to emulate, in an age of growing mental discomfort.

An old market town around 12 miles north-west of Cambridge – population 16,384, according to the 2011 census – St Ives is venerable enough to feature in the Domesday Book. Back then it was known as Slepe. There have been some rude awakenings of late.

Public Health England (PHE) has today (30 August 2017) launched a ground breaking new tool for local public health teams identifying the most cost effective mental health programmes. One of these 8 initiatives is an innovative resilience programme in schools that results in an estimated saving of £5.08 for every £1 invested (over 3 years).

The tool was developed in partnership with leading economists at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The programmes it identifies are proven to reduce the incidence and/or risk of mental health problems at all stages of life: children and young people, the working age population and older people. Mental health problems represent the largest single cause of disability in the UK. The cost to the economy is estimated at £105 billion a year.

The full list of programmes identified in the Return on Investment tool are:

• Children: whole school anti bullying programme – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £1.58 (over 4 years)
• Children: social and emotional learning – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £5.08 (over 3 years)
• Workplace: wellbeing programme – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.37 (over 1 year)
• Workplace: stress prevention – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.00 (over 2 years)
• Collaborative care for physical health problems – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £1.52 (over 2 years)
• Older people: tackling loneliness through volunteering and social activities – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £1.26 (over 5 years)
• Adults: debt and welfare service – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.60 (over 5 years)
• Adults: suicide prevention – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.93 (over 10 years)