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 access to mental health services, particularly for young people and those in rural areas.

We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, including young people living in rural communities. For 2025/26, mental health spending is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion. This represents a significant uplift of £688 million in real terms spending on mental health compared to the previous financial year.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament.

Additionally, approximately six in ten pupils will have access to a mental health support team by March 2026, which equates to approximately six million pupils and further education learners. Rollout will be prioritised based on NHS identification of local need and reaching the most vulnerable children first. We are accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams to achieve full national coverage by 2029.