Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how he plans to implement parity of esteem between physical and mental health services (a) financially and (b) otherwise.

The Government’s commitment to parity of esteem has been made explicit in legislation, as well as the NHS Constitution.

We have extended the legal right to choice in mental health so people with mental health problems will have the same choice for their care as they do for their physical health.

We estimate that funding for mental health has increased by approximately £302 million in 2014-15, total mental health spending rose from £11.362 billion in 2013-14 with £11.664 billion planned in 2014-15.

The Department and NHS England continue to work together to ensure that there are consistent messages to commissioners and providers about the importance of delivering parity of esteem for mental health service users.

Monitor and NHS England are responsible for setting the national tariff arrangements and are working together to develop a national payment system for mental health which promotes improving outcomes and recovery.

Currently, prices for mental health services are agreed locally. However, mental health clusters have been developed as the currencies underpinning payment for mental health services.

Local commissioners and mental health providers are encouraged to use the clusters as the basis for reaching financial settlements and we know that some health economies are already using clusters as the basis for payment for mental health services.

Public Health England has also made a commitment to addressing parity of esteem which includes working to promote good mental health and preventing mental health problems.

In our new five-year plan for mental health, Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, we identified £40 million additional spending this year and freed up a further £80 million for 2015-16. This will, for the first time ever, enable the setting of access and waiting time standards in mental health services and includes new targets to make sure that, by 2016, at least 50% of young people referred for early intervention in psychosis services will start treatment within two weeks.

There has been sustained investment in mental health over the course of this parliament. We have invested £400 million in Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) for adults and £54 million over the four year period from 2011-2015 in the children and young people’s IAPT programme to transform child and adolescent mental health services.

We will also be investing £30m a year over the next five years in England to improve services for young people with mental health problems. This will place particular emphasis on eating disorders.

We have invested £2 million in nine street triage pilots where police and mental health professionals work together to support people in mental health crisis access safe, appropriate care and we have committed £25 million in 2014-15 to commission 10 trial sites delivering on a new standard service specification for liaison and diversion services in England.