Policy & Public Affairs update – April 2026 | BPS
It’s been another busy and productive month for the BPS Policy and Public Affairs team, so let’s dive straight in. We launched our report into the Educational Psychology workforce, in collaboration with the Educational Policy Institute . A big thank you to our members for engaging so constructively on this issue and raising its profile with stakeholders and the media.
We joined an engagement meeting led by NHS England the upcoming Modern Service Framework for children and young people, and responded to NHS England's consultation on the Framework. We also have several other upcoming consultations that we will be responding to.
We welcome member feedback and insights across all consultations: We joined the Council for Work and Health's mental health subgroup meeting, where we discussed Charlie Mayfield's Keep Britain Working review, AI and how it fits into psychosocial risks in the workplace, and the government's recently published renewed Women's Health Strategy.
We met with the Children's Commissioner's team to discuss the proposed SEND reform included in the Schools' White Paper, and ran a member workshop on the subject. Thank you to all the members who attended and took part – we're really grateful for your time and expertise.
As part of our regular engagement with the HCPC, we met with the Strategic Relationships and Public Affairs Lead to share updates and joint priorities and also attended our regular meetings with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Association of Family Therapists, and the Climate Minds Coalition.
Wales's parliamentary (Senedd) elections are taking place on 7 May. This is a significant election for Wales, not least because the Senedd will grow from 60 to 96 MSs (Members of the Senedd) but, with 20 existing and long-serving MSs standing down, we will see at least 56 new faces; over half of the Welsh parliament.
We published the BPS Wales manifesto last year and next month will produce a piece to members for a call to action to share their priorities with us, how they can get involved in our public affairs work, and when and where to attend engagement opportunities to campaign for our priorities.
In addition to our own manifesto, we've contributed to several joint manifestos including: The Welsh political party manifestos are: Psychology Matters Spotlight on Cwm Taf Morgannwg In 2026, we're providing a monthly spotlight to the public and decision-makers on the importance and impact of psychology and psychological therapies in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board.
This will support the development of the health boards new psychological therapies strategy and demonstrates a truly joint venture that will hopefully culminate in a ministerial visit at the end of the year.
Our April addition looks at the Here & Now project , which provides children and young people with open access to mental health services, offering an alternative choice of service for those children, young people and their families who might not otherwise access specialist psychological interventions.
It is designed to allow them to access care as and when they need it. For this and other articles, visit the articles hub on Psychology Matters. We responded to the Welsh Government's draft dementia strategy and to the draft national strategy for unpaid carers.
Talk With Me: Phase 2 of the Speech, language and communications delivery plan – 2026 – 2030. Deadline - 30 April The BPS will keep members updated on developments in the run up to the election on 7 May. We also look forward to briefing new ministers and Parliamentarians post-election, drawing on our BPS manifesto calls to action.
With 41 of the existing 129 MSPs not standing for re-election, there will be many new faces. In terms of wider stakeholders, beyond our own manifesto, other organisations have also featured the psychology profession and psychology in their manifestos for the Scottish Parliament election: The following political party manifestos have been launche…