Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the additional £1 billion per year for community mental health services has been spent; and if she will make an assessment of the impact of that funding on care pathways for people living with bipolar disorder.

The NHS Long Term Plan set out a minimum £2.3 billion real terms growth per year for expanding and transforming mental health services in England by 2023/24. This includes £1 billion for community mental health services for people with serious mental illness. However, the amount and proportion of this funding which has been distributed is not separately identifiable from the overall amount spent on mental health services. Neither is the impact of that funding on care pathways for people living with bipolar disorder separately identifiable.

The funding aims to increase access to high quality care and transform care pathways for people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder, through: greater integration of primary and community services to provide care in the community driven by the needs of individuals, rather than based solely on diagnoses; physical health checks; and Individual Placement and Support schemes and Early Intervention in Psychosis services.