Policy and Public Affairs Update - June 2025

It's been another productive month for the BPS Policy and Public Affairs team, with our work in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales front and centre, so let's jump in.

As part of our Psychology Matters programme, we launched our manifestos for Scotland and Wales ahead of the 2026 elections, and our Policy Pillars document for Northern Ireland. Co-created with our members in each nation, the documents have been disseminated to the devolved governments, political parties, and other stakeholders. 

We'd like to say a huge thank you to all the members whose vital input helped to shape these important documents, which will form the basis of our policy engagement in the devolved nations over the next 12 months.

Parliamentary engagement 

We were pleased to be invited to provide oral evidence to the House of Lord's select committee on Home-based Working. Professor Gail Kinman represented the BPS at the session, which focused on the physical and mental health impacts of hybrid working, and what additional support is required from employers to support employee's health within the workplace. Read the transcript from the session. 

We responded to the Government's three-year Spending Review in England, and briefed MPs ahead of committee stage for the Mental Health Bill in the House of Commons. 

We also presented to the Liberal Democrat's mental health working group, on policy issues and solutions including achieving an equal footing for mental and physical health, addressing the underlying causes of mental illness and improving early access to diagnosis and treatment.

Stakeholder engagement and influencing 

We met with the Association of Heads of Psychology Departments to discuss the HCPC's Standards and Education and Training Review. We are expecting the consultation for this review to commence in the Autumn.

In a private letter co-signed by other professional bodies, we wrote to Claire Murdoch, National Director for Mental Health at NHS England, advocating for the role of National Clinical Lead for Psychological Professions in the new Department of Health and Social Care structure.

We also joined the Council for Work and Health's mental health subgroup meeting and heard from representatives from GMB on their work related to workplace health and safety.

Devolved nations 

Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Policy Pillars Document launched this month in response to the policy areas the Northern Ireland Executive will prioritise in the coming years in its Programme for Government (PfG).

The document identifies five areas which demand urgent action from the NI Executive, along with evidence-based recommendations:  

• Access to services – Health, social care and education
• The workforce
• Mental health
• Prevention and early intervention
• Equality

Look out for Psychology Matters interviews with Dr Geraldine O'Hare and Rachel Lindsay coming soon. 

Scotland

The launch of the BPS manifesto for Scotland has already had an impact, with a request from Jackie Baillie MSP (shadow Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care), to meet with BPS to discuss the health-related items included, to help shape the Scottish Labour manifesto.

As one of the seventeen member organisations, we also fed in views for Scotland's Mental Health Partnership's manifesto, which will be launching this summer. 

Finally, our views on overcrowding in prisons featured in the Herald.

Wales

We held an event to celebrate the importance of psychology in improving public health, with presentations on several impactful case studies. Our keynote speaker, Professor Jim McManus, National Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health Wales (clinical psychologist and BPS member), also offered reflections on the power of psychologically led preventative programmes and he stated his commitment to working with the BPS to raise awareness amongst policy makers.

Ruth Crowder, Chief AHP Advisor to Welsh Government spoke at the DHP national conference in Cardiff, alongside Adrian Whittington. Ruth spoke of the importance of health psychologists in policy development, and that policy must now centre on prevention to tackle the growing health and social inequalities in Wales.

We also endorsed a joint Health and Wellbeing Alliance manifesto, led by the Welsh NHS Confederation. 

Consultations

It's been a very busy time for submitting consultation responses, with governments seeking evidence on a range of key decisions and legislation. We responded to:

• Keep Britain Working Review's Call for Insights on Workplace Interventionsthe Department for Work and Pension's consultation on the Pathways to Work green paper
• The Home Office consultation on victim information requests
• The Family Procedure Rule Committee's consultation on the standards required for expert witnesses
• the Equality and Human Rights Commission's consultation on the UK Supreme Court Ruling and Code of Practice Changes.
• the Northern Ireland Department of Health consultation on the Draft Equality Action Plan and Draft Disability Action Plan. 

View our submitted responses. Thank you to all the members who provided evidence and helped us to shape these responses. 

We will continue to respond to key consultations over the coming months, including to the Department of Health & Social Care's consultation on a Men's Health Strategy for England and the Education Committee's inquiry on Higher Education and Funding. 

Find out more about the open consultations and how to submit your evidence to support the BPS' responses.

Campaigns

NHS Staff Wellbeing 

A blog by Dr Roman Raczka updated members on our work around NHS Staff Wellbeing, and we met with NHS Practitioner Health to discuss NHS staff mental health and wellbeing as part of our ongoing work on our Wellbeing Hubs campaign. We discussed the current tender for the National Staff Mental Health Support Service. 

EP campaign

We met with the Association of Child Psychotherapists to discuss joint priorities and our campaign on reform of the SEND and education systems.   

We facilitated a workshop with our members and the Education Policy Institute (EPI) to support the research we have commissioned to estimate the cost of high-quality educational psychology services in England, and evidence our policy calls. 

Dr Roman Raczka blogged his reflections after presenting at the Building Emotionally Healthy Schools: Engaging the therapy professions' conference.

Psychology Matters - get involved 

We'd love to hear from more of our members about their work, careers, and why they think psychology Matters. Find out more,

Would you like to tell us why you think Psychology Matters? Complete our survey.