Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published November 2024, whether the 384,000 additional Talking Therapies places in Priority 1 were previously (a) announced and (b) funded in the Autumn Statement 2023.

The Government inherited a £22 billion blackhole in the nation’s finances which has required necessary choices around spending priorities. Despite this backdrop, we were determined to identify the funding required to support NHS Talking Therapies.

The White Paper confirms the Government’s commitment to expand access to NHS Talking Therapies for adults in England with common mental health conditions.