Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2022 to Question 119788, what steps he is taking to tackle to the increase in waiting times for children and young people with eating disorders.

We have invested a further £79 million in 2021/22 to expand children’s mental health services, including allowing 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services and reducing waiting times. NHS England and NHS Improvement also announced an additional £40 million in 2021/22 to address the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health, including eating disorders.

This investment supplements existing plans to expand and improve mental health services, including eating disorder services, as set out in the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20-2023/24. Since 2016, additional funding has been provided for children and young people's community eating disorder services each year, with £53 million per year from 2021/22. This will enhance the capacity of the 70 new or improved community eating disorder teams.