Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department and the MHRA are taking to enforce restrictions on the advertising of cannabis-based products for medicinal use on social media.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 1 June in response to Question 3220.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she considers the volume of prescriptions issued for cannabis-based products for medicinal use to be consistent with patient safety.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 1 June in response to Question 3220.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 are held in (a) low, (b) medium and (c) high secure hospitals as of the latest date for which figures are available.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes annual Mental Health Act Statistics, including the total number of people detained under the Mental Health Act on 31 March each year. The latest data is available at the link below, and new data for the year ending 31 March 2026 will be published on 15 October:
Table 8a in the Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures, 2024-25, available at the following link, provides information on discharges from hospital under court and prison disposal provisions, excluding Community Treatment Orders, broken down by section:
Figures are provided for both the number of discharges, and the length of detention. Data on patients detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 is not broken down by hospital security level.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 were discharged from hospital in the most recent 12 months for which data is available, broken down by section.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes annual Mental Health Act Statistics, including the total number of people detained under the Mental Health Act on 31 March each year. The latest data is available at the link below, and new data for the year ending 31 March 2026 will be published on 15 October:
Table 8a in the Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures, 2024-25, available at the following link, provides information on discharges from hospital under court and prison disposal provisions, excluding Community Treatment Orders, broken down by section:
Figures are provided for both the number of discharges, and the length of detention. Data on patients detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 is not broken down by hospital security level.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients are currently detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983, broken down by section.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes annual Mental Health Act Statistics, including the total number of people detained under the Mental Health Act on 31 March each year. The latest data is available at the link below, and new data for the year ending 31 March 2026 will be published on 15 October:
Table 8a in the Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures, 2024-25, available at the following link, provides information on discharges from hospital under court and prison disposal provisions, excluding Community Treatment Orders, broken down by section:
Figures are provided for both the number of discharges, and the length of detention. Data on patients detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 is not broken down by hospital security level.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the custody of HM Prison and Probation Service are currently receiving medication to manage problematic sexual arousal (MMPSA).
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were being cared for in forensic support services in each year since 2013-14, broken down by a) high, b) medium and c) low secure services.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The following table shows spending on forensic support services according to high, medium and low secure services between 2013/14 and 2023/24, the most recent year for which data is available:
Financial Year | High Secure (£m) | Medium Secure (£m) | Low Secure (£m) |
2013/14 | 152.7 | 594.8 | 571.4 |
2014/15 | 220.9 | 503.9 | 587.8 |
2015/16 | 223.4 | 530.6 | 498.9 |
2016/17 | 218.9 | 552.5 | 515.2 |
2017/18 | 226.4 | 557.4 | 522.6 |
2018/19 | 218.9 | 578.9 | 524.0 |
2019/20 | 229.1 | 574.4 | 522.8 |
2020/21 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2021/22 | 249.0 | 595.9 | 509.7 |
2022/23 | 256.7 | 657.9 | 625.4 |
2023/24 | 277.0 | 720.4 | 617.4 |
Source: NHS England, Regional Spend Analysis
Notes:
2020/21 figures were not collected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is other spending categorised as “forensic” which is not specifically related to high, medium and low secure services.
The following table shows the number of unique patients who were being cared for in forensic support services in each year since 2016/17, the earliest year for which data is available, broken down by high, medium and low secure services:
Financial Year | Low | Medium | High |
2016/17 | 4348 | 4133 | 780 |
2017/18 | 4253 | 4015 | 785 |
2018/19 | 4152 | 4007 | 765 |
2019/20 | 4069 | 3915 | 751 |
2020/21 | 3832 | 3792 | 744 |
2021/22 | 3563 | 3465 | 771 |
2022/23 | 3406 | 3368 | 763 |
2023/24 | 3297 | 3304 | 725 |
2024/25 | 3175 | 3234 | 690 |
2025/26 | 2985 | 3312 | 693 |
Source: NHS England
Notes:
The earliest reporting period available from the Specialised Mental Health Patient-Level Dataset is 2016/17. From 2021/22 onwards, the data has been sourced from the Mental Health Services Dataset.
The figures represent unique patients within each service category and financial year. However, for unique patients, this is not a distinct count of all patients across secure services. A patient may therefore be counted more than once in the total if they moved between security levels during the same financial year.
The same patient may also appear across multiple financial years.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent on forensic support services in each year since 2013/14 by a) high, b) medium and c) low secure services.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The following table shows spending on forensic support services according to high, medium and low secure services between 2013/14 and 2023/24, the most recent year for which data is available:
Financial Year | High Secure (£m) | Medium Secure (£m) | Low Secure (£m) |
2013/14 | 152.7 | 594.8 | 571.4 |
2014/15 | 220.9 | 503.9 | 587.8 |
2015/16 | 223.4 | 530.6 | 498.9 |
2016/17 | 218.9 | 552.5 | 515.2 |
2017/18 | 226.4 | 557.4 | 522.6 |
2018/19 | 218.9 | 578.9 | 524.0 |
2019/20 | 229.1 | 574.4 | 522.8 |
2020/21 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2021/22 | 249.0 | 595.9 | 509.7 |
2022/23 | 256.7 | 657.9 | 625.4 |
2023/24 | 277.0 | 720.4 | 617.4 |
Source: NHS England, Regional Spend Analysis
Notes:
2020/21 figures were not collected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is other spending categorised as “forensic” which is not specifically related to high, medium and low secure services.
The following table shows the number of unique patients who were being cared for in forensic support services in each year since 2016/17, the earliest year for which data is available, broken down by high, medium and low secure services:
Financial Year | Low | Medium | High |
2016/17 | 4348 | 4133 | 780 |
2017/18 | 4253 | 4015 | 785 |
2018/19 | 4152 | 4007 | 765 |
2019/20 | 4069 | 3915 | 751 |
2020/21 | 3832 | 3792 | 744 |
2021/22 | 3563 | 3465 | 771 |
2022/23 | 3406 | 3368 | 763 |
2023/24 | 3297 | 3304 | 725 |
2024/25 | 3175 | 3234 | 690 |
2025/26 | 2985 | 3312 | 693 |
Source: NHS England
Notes:
The earliest reporting period available from the Specialised Mental Health Patient-Level Dataset is 2016/17. From 2021/22 onwards, the data has been sourced from the Mental Health Services Dataset.
The figures represent unique patients within each service category and financial year. However, for unique patients, this is not a distinct count of all patients across secure services. A patient may therefore be counted more than once in the total if they moved between security levels during the same financial year.
The same patient may also appear across multiple financial years.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to section 5 of the Government Efficiency Framework, if he will publish the most recent quarterly efficiency report provided by the Food Standards Agency.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not provide efficiency reporting to HM Treasury under the Government’s Efficiency Framework. This reflects an agreement between HM Treasury and the FSA, recognising the FSA’s size and the proportionate reporting requirements that apply to smaller departments. Consequently, there is no efficiency report available. The FSA continues to progress organisational change and transformation activity to improve efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring it is well placed to meet future demands and deliver its objectives.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in England have a formal clinical diagnosis of mixed anxiety and depressive disorder recorded in NHS primary care records.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Department does not hold data on the number of people in England with a formal clinical diagnosis of mixed anxiety and depressive disorder recorded in National Health Service primary care records.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework publication shows the prevalence of depression more broadly, with the depression disease register capturing all patients with an unresolved diagnosis of depression since 1 April 2006. However, it does not break this down by the number of patients with a specific type of diagnosis. The Quality and Outcomes Framework publication is available at the following link:
The most recent Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, for 2023/24, reported that one in five adults have a common mental health condition, which comprise of different types of depression and anxiety disorders.
The Department has commissioned an independent review into the prevalence, trends, and inequalities associated with mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism in children, young people, and adults. An interim report was published in March, with a final report expected in the summer. The interim report is available at the following link: