Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that CCGs do not reduce expenditure on mental health budgets to cover deficits in the acute hospital sector.

Alistair Burt

NHS England has made a requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the planning guidance for 2015/16, The Forward View Into Action: Planning Guidance for 2015/16, that each CCG’s spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s overall funding allocation increase.

CCGs are required to submit their spending plans and their annual accounts to NHS England. NHS England reviews spending, including for mental health, through the CCG assurance process.