Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of (a) current waiting times and (b) levels of access to specialist counselling support for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence for people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that too many people, including survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, are not receiving the mental health care they need, and that waits for mental health services are too long. We are determined to change that, which is why we have chosen to prioritise funding to expand NHS Talking Therapies. This means that the number of people completing a course of treatment is expected to increase by 384,000 by 2028/29. Latest data from NHS England for June 2025 shows that 89.1% of people completing Talking Therapies treatment waited less than six weeks for their first appointment, against a target of 75%. 98.6% of people completing treatment waited less than 18 weeks, against a target of 95%.
Protecting and supporting child and adult victims and survivors of sexual abuse is a core priority for NHS England, delivered through a network of 48 specialist sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) across the country. NHS England commissions SARCs through a distinct national service specification including working with specialist support services, ensuring that children and young people aged up to 18 years old receive trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate care and safeguarding support, and that adults receive tailored care that reflects their needs and rights, with clear referral pathways to health, justice, and specialist support services. NHS England does not hold national information on current waiting times and access for people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds to specialist counselling support for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
This is in addition to the support services commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has provided guidance for health and care staff on non-intimate partner coercive and controlling behaviour of older victims.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All National Health Service staff are required to complete mandatory safeguarding training which includes a focus on violence and abuse. The training reflects the definitions in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and accompanying statutory guidance which includes coercive and controlling behaviour.
NHS Safeguarding regularly shares awareness and learning for staff via national, regional, and local safeguarding networks through collaboration with peer advocacy and lived-experience services for victims. Learning materials include information on non-intimate partner coercive and controlling behaviour towards older victims.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department requires health and social care staff in multi-agency safeguarding hubs to receive safeguarding training on the risks of non-intimate partner coercive and controlling behaviour of older victims.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All National Health Service staff are required to complete mandatory safeguarding training which includes a focus on domestic abuse. Coercive and controlling behaviour is included within the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act’s definition of Domestic Abuse. Staff will undertake further safeguarding training relevant to their role.
NHS Safeguarding regularly shares awareness and learning for staff via national, regional, and local safeguarding networks through collaboration with peer advocacy and lived-experience services for victims. Learning materials include information on non-intimate partner coercive and controlling behaviour of older victims.
For non-NHS staff working in multi-agency safeguarding hubs, local authorities have a statutory duty to make enquiries about safeguarding concerns under the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department requires mandatory training in coercive and controlling behaviour for health and social care staff in multi-agency safeguarding hubs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All National Health Service staff are required to complete mandatory safeguarding training which includes a focus on domestic abuse. Coercive and controlling behaviour is included within the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act’s definition of Domestic Abuse. Staff will undertake further safeguarding training relevant to their role.
NHS Safeguarding regularly shares awareness and learning for staff via national, regional, and local safeguarding networks through collaboration with peer advocacy and lived-experience services for victims. Learning materials include information on non-intimate partner coercive and controlling behaviour of older victims.
For non-NHS staff working in multi-agency safeguarding hubs, local authorities have a statutory duty to make enquiries about safeguarding concerns under the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing statutory guidance to NHS commissioning bodies to ensure that they commission counselling and psychotherapy professionals to provide specialist support for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence from accredited registers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working with the Home Office and other partners across the Government on a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. There are no current plans to issue any such guidance to National Health Service commissioners.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to NHS commissioners on commissioning qualified counselling and psychotherapy services as part of the specialist support provided to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working with the Home Office and other partners across the Government on a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. There are no current plans to issue any such guidance to National Health Service commissioners.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ Oral Statement of 30 June 2025 on Welfare Reform, if he will provide a breakdown by (a) location and (b) roles of the additional 6,700 mental health workers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes monthly data on the National Health Service’s Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) workforce in England. This includes data on the NHS mental health workforce employed by NHS provider trusts and integrated care boards. The information presented in the debate following my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ oral statement on welfare reform detailed the change in the NHS’s mental health workforce between the 30 June 2024 baseline and the data for 30 April 2025.
Within the NHS Monthly Workforce Statistics series, data on the mental health workforce is included in the file titled Preliminary – NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables, April 2025, which is available at the following link:
Tab 21 within the file presents information on the mental health workforce broken down by both staff groups and regions, showing how the total has increased over time.
The definition of the HCHS mental health workforce includes those who are providing or supporting the provision of mental health services. Staff are included if they have either an NHS Occupation Code or Area of Work code that is related to mental health services. Further information on the mental health workforce definition, including a list of the relevant Occupation Code and Area of Work variables, can be found on the National Workforce Data Set guidance page, at the following link:
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of funding his Department is providing to the (a) Best Start in Life strategy and (b) Best Start Family Hubs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Best Start in Life strategy makes it clear that the integration of health services within Best Start Family Hubs is critical to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, and to ensuring that every child has a happy and healthy start to life. Additionally, the strategy commits the Government to:
- strengthening early childhood health services;
- improving maternity and newborn care;
- strengthening health visiting services;
- making it easier to get vaccinated;
- supporting healthy eating;
- tackling tooth decay; and
- giving parents and health professionals easier access to child health information.
The Department is working to provide clarity on future funding and spending plans, including preparing for the first multi-year planning round for the National Health Service in years.
The vision for Best Start Family Hubs goes hand in hand with the move to neighbourhood health services set out in the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan, and the three radical shifts from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and from sickness to prevention.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to develop central commissioning guidance for clinically-based domestic violence and abuse specialists.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In May 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care worked with the Ministry of Justice in developing central commissioning guidance for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) working in a range of settings, including healthcare. These advocates provide tailored emotional and practical support to victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, regardless of whether the victim is reporting to the police. The guidance advises commissioners to consider how they resource and encourage ISVA and IDVA services to best serve victims' needs, for example considering additional specialised training beyond an advocate’s core role.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of counsellors trained to support children who have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As commissioners of National Health Services, integrated care boards are responsible for making available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. Service delivery models are determined by service providers at a local level, in response to commissioners’ requirements.
The Ministry of Justice provides funding for vital victim and witness support services. This includes community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services, in addition to the core funding the Ministry of Justice provides to Police and Crime Commissioners to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need. This includes support for children and young people.
In December 2024, the Ministry of Justice confirmed grant awards for the provision of domestic abuse and sexual violence services in 2025/26. Grant recipients provide services, including trauma-informed counselling, based on their local assessment of need.