Councillor Sorba quoted experts to expect a surge in children in mental health crises A Lewisham councillor made an impassioned plea to council bosses to rethink a quarter of a million pound cut to children’s mental health services in light of the pandemic. And the council has promised to hold on to the money it’s cutting in case there is a spike in demand when lockdown eases. As part of a programme of cuts worth £40 million over the next three years, the council is proposing to cut £250,000 from the CAMHS budget. The services are notoriously underfunded, with an NHS target of only 35 per cent for treating young people with a diagnosable mental health condition.