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 waiting times for people seeking psychological therapy to support employment.

The Government is committed to delivering expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and individual placement and support schemes to address the root causes of mental health issues and provide support for people to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work. We will also make it easier for people to self-refer to talking therapies services through the NHS App.

We are continuing to roll out employment advisors in our NHS Talking Therapies services to support people with common mental health conditions in seeking and retaining employment. Our advisors help people who are in work but struggling or facing difficulties in the workplace, are off work sick, or are looking for work, so we can provide the right support at the right time.

Confidential support is available to people at any stage of their career. This could include school- or college-leavers looking for their first job to people looking at changing their lifestyle or work-life balance as they get closer to retirement.

We are also expanding individual placement and support schemes embedded in community mental health services to improve employment outcomes for people with severe mental illness. These schemes offer intensive, individually tailored support to get people into work, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person keeps their job.