BLACKBURN with Darwen will spend an additional £1.17 million over the next five years on tackling mental health in the borough, with an emphasis on reaching young people and residents of south Asian heritage, writes Bill Jacobs.
The worse than national average figures were set out in a report to senior councillors. Council leader Phil Riley told the meeting last Thursday (10) that figures in the survey, especially for young people, were shocking.
He said: “It’s an epidemic. It’s a crisis.” Councillor Mustafa Desai, leader of the opposition 4BwD group, told the meeting the take up of mental health services among the borough’s south Asian residents was low as the community considered it a ‘taboo’ subject and efforts to improve it needed to be prioritised.
The report from public health chief, councillor Damian Talbot, revealed that many people in Blackburn with Darwen experience poor mental health.
It also showed the prevalence of depression has been increasing in the borough year-on-year. Among those aged 18 and over, the percentage of residents experiencing depression, as recorded on GP disease registers, was 17.2 per cent in 2023, higher than the national figure of 13.2 per cent.
The incidence rate of new depression diagnoses among patients aged 18 plus in 2023-2024 is three per cent, twice the national average of 1.5 per cent, the report said. There are more than 2,200 people (among all ages) with a diagnosis of severe mental illness (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other psychoses), accounting for 1.2 per cent of the total GP registered population in 2023-2024.
This is higher than the England prevalence of one per cent.
The report also showed that 3.9 per cent of school pupils from Blackburn with Darwen were identified as having social, emotional and mental needs, slightly higher than the national rate of 3.7 per cent in 2023-2024.
Between 2021 and 2023, there have been 49 deaths by suicide in the borough – 36 males and 13 females. The rate of suicide is 12 per 100,000 and is higher than England rate of 10.7 per 100,000, the survey said.
Damian Talbot
It added that hospital admissions for self-harm among those aged 10 to 24 is at a rate 475.7 per 100,000, significantly worse than national and regional rates.
Rates of admissions for 10 to 14-year-olds is the highest among upper tier authorities in the north west, the report added.
Talbot proposed to spend £1.17m between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2030 on three new services: mental health and suicide prevention training and engagement; men’s mental wellbeing service; and a community bereavement support service for children and adults.
This will be on top of an annual spend of between £188,500 and £252,400 on other mental health projects, including the Kooth scheme to support children and young people aged 11 to 2025 in tackling problems caused from online usage and Blackburn Rovers Community Trust’s Men in Sheds programme.
Talbot told Desai: “How we reach the south Asian community has to be part of this process.” In 2025-2026, a project to target under-represented groups will cost £65,000.
He added: “The mental health of the residents of Blackburn with Darwen has a significant impact on it as a place.
“Improving mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for all the health and care organisations in the borough.”
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images) 
