Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Esther McVey and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey (Wirral West) (Con)]

13. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on funding for mental health services.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. I know that she takes a great interest in these issues. We want to offer long-term solutions to people with mental health problems and provide psychological therapies to do that. Our coalition programme set out our intention to ensure greater access to talking therapies. That is why, on 23 June, the Secretary of State for Health pledged £70 million to continue the roll-out of psychological therapies across the NHS this year.

[Esther McVey]

Given the dire financial situation the last Government have left us in, and the very real impact it will have on each and every one of our lives, will the Minister go further to explain the £70 million that he plans to spend on psychological therapies in the current financial year? That is particularly important when one in four of us will in the course of our lifetimes suffer from problems in our mental well-being—including finance-related stress, reminding us of our inheritance from the previous Government.

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Lady is quite right to spell out the importance of tackling mental health problems, which, as she says, many people experience during the course of their lives, so it should be taken very seriously. That is why we have continued to roll out funding for the expansion of talking therapies, which in many cases are the most effective. I also note that, unlike the Labour party, we have pledged to increase health spending in real terms during every year of this Parliament to enable these sorts of problems to continue to be tackled—even in very tight financial circumstances.