Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support for (a) veterans and (b) serving Military personnel in (i) Telford constituency, ii) Telford and Wrekin borough, (iii) Shropshire, and (iv) the West Midlands.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to the mental health of our Service personnel, providing robust training, welfare support and development opportunities. When necessary, we ensure that both serving personnel and veterans are given the mental healthcare and treatment they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.

Recent initiatives include the new partnership, announced last October, with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. And in February 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families, providing out-of-hours advice and assistance and running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community. We will also be providing an additional £2 million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20 million a year we already spend.

Mental health services are already provided for serving personnel through a network of 20 permanent locations, comprising 11 Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs); six Mental Health Teams (MHTs); and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. DCMH Donnington is located in Telford itself, and covers the regions of the West Midlands (including Shropshire) and Wales. It also provides a visiting clinic four times a week to Defence Medical Services (DMS) Whittington in South Staffordshire, to improve access for patients based in or around the West Midlands.

Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are eligible to access services at a local DCMH, including Donnington, for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.

The VMH-TILS provider for the Midlands and East of England (which includes the Telford constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands) is the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. The service provides a range of treatment and support for veterans, as well as Armed Forces personnel approaching discharge. The VMH-TILS will arrange for veterans to be referred if necessary to the NHS England Veterans' Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (VMH-CTS) which will be launched on 1 April 2018; the Service Provider for the Telford constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands is Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Other services available from MOD to veterans in the West Midlands and elsewhere include the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP), for veterans that have served since 1982 and Reservists with operational service overseas since 2003 (also provided through DCMH Donnington), as well as the Veterans UK and Veterans Welfare Service.