Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time for mental health referrals in (a) England and (b) Shropshire.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing £2.3 billion extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services by March 2024, enabling an extra two million people, including in Shropshire, to be treated by National Health Service mental health services.

The Department also provided an additional £500 million in 2021/22 to accelerate our expansion plans and help address waiting times for mental health services. The Department is also working with the NHS towards implementing five new waiting time standards for people requiring mental healthcare in both accident & emergency and in the community, to ensure timely access to the most appropriate, high-quality support.