Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The hon. Gentleman will know that we have the start-up loan scheme, which provides support for entrepreneurs starting small businesses, and the Government will continue to encourage small businesses to be established and then to grow.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

3. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on NHS funding.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

We have regular meetings with the Health Secretary and have recently allocated an additional fund of a 3.4% rise per year to the national health service, which will equate to £20 billion by 2023.

[Mohammad Yasin]

In Bedfordshire, children with mental health issues are travelling up to 100 miles to access services. Their recovery is hugely compromised by sending them away from their families and friends. Will the Chancellor now commit funds to local specialist facilities for young people and reinstate the mental health beds in Bedford that his Government took away?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We recognise that there is increasing demand for the NHS, which is precisely why we have allocated the additional funding, and the Health Secretary will shortly publish a 10-year plan with mental health as one strand of it.