Oral Answers to Questions

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I seem to recall that I first met my hon. Friend when she was campaigning in relation to motorways. She is right that in order to support the rail infrastructure, we need to ensure that the right road infrastructure is in place. That is why we are investing £15 billion in the road investment strategy, which is about boosting local economies and further economic growth. I understand that Highways England is looking at the issues in the east midlands and at bringing forward significant new road enhancements around the expected site of the new east midlands HS2 station. Going forward it is looking at an audit of roads in the area. I trust that on this issue my hon. Friend will make her voice heard, and that of her constituents, as she has in the past.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Q8. May I take the Prime Minister back to the answer that she gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner)? The Conservative manifesto promised shorter NHS waiting times for those who need help with their mental health, but as prescriptions for anti-depressants continue to rise my constituents in Wirral who need talking therapies have to wait a month for referral and well over four months for treatment. Was that Tory manifesto just words, or will the Prime Minister ever deliver?

[The Prime Minister]

I gave a serious answer to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner), which is that we have been looking at the whole issue of talking therapies, their availability and the waiting times for them. We do want to improve the options that people have for access to talking therapies, precisely because they have been shown to be so successful in so many cases. The Government are working on this and we will continue to work on it to provide, as we have said, that parity of esteem between mental health and physical health in the national health service.