Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to use technology to help improve (a) boys' and (b) men's mental health.

Digitally enabled therapies and other technological innovations are already used in the provision of mental health support in England. We are building on the progress made by services in using digital approaches and remote delivery during the pandemic, to give people a greater choice in the way they access care, and to enable services to be more productive. For many people, digitally enabled support through apps or online will mean that they might receive help earlier, or in a way that is easier for them to fit into their lives.

The NHS Long Term Plan included several commitments on the use of technology in mental health, including that: 100% of mental health providers will meet required levels of digitisation; local systems will offer a range of self-management apps, digital consultations, and digitally enabled models of therapy; and that systems utilise digital clinical decision-making tools.