Business of the House

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

There are 16 Members still trying to catch my eye. I would like to get you all in, but succinct questions and answers, please.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

Earlier this week, I chaired a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on mental health. We heard about a worrying rise in urgent mental health referrals and a similarly worrying reduction in routine referrals, flagging up a probable pent-up demand on mental health services. May we have a debate on how the NHS can be helped to deal with the mental health consequences of the pandemic?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

This is a matter of concern to everybody across the House and has become a major priority. Mental health funding increased to £12.5 billion in 2018-19, and that will go up by £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24 to support an extra 380,000 adults and 345,000 children. There has been £9.2 million of additional funding to mental health charities during this crisis. This is an issue that the Government take really seriously, as do Members across the House.