Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement a long-term strategy to improve the timescale of mental health treatment in the NHS.

Under the NHS Long Term Plan, there will be a comprehensive expansion of mental health services, with additional funding of at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. This will give greater mental health support to an extra 345,000 children, at least 380,000 more adults and 24,000 more new and expectant mothers.

The interim NHS People Plan, published on 3 June 2019, sets out that an additional 25,000 staff will be employed in mental health services over the next five years. This includes nearly 6,500 more working in children and young people’s mental health services and mental health support teams in schools and colleges.

The National Health Service will test new waiting times to ensure rapid access to mental health services in the community for those that need it and expand crisis care. More detailed information will be set out in the National Implementation Framework and the full NHS People Plan due to be published later in the year.