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 improve mental health services for (a) young men, (b) young women and (c) vulnerable people in Heywood and Middleton North constituency.

We know that waits for children and young people's mental health services are lengthy and that some vulnerable groups are less likely to access support. That is why the National Health Service’s planning guidance for 2025/26 makes it clear that one of the priorities for children's mental health services is to reduce local inequalities in access to children and young people’s mental health services between disadvantaged groups, including in Heywood and Middleton North constituency, and the wider population.

The Government will also recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across child and adult mental health services and provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams, so that every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.

Early intervention and prevention support in the community is vital. That is why we are providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 early support hubs that have a
track record of helping thousands of young people in their community.