Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 11 January 2016, how much of the proposed £1.4 billion mental health support funding for young people over the next five years has already been allocated.

Alistair Burt

The Government has committed to making available the full £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health.

In this financial year (2015/16), the Government has already allocated £173 million. This includes:

– £75 million for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to improve local services;

– £30 million to CCGs to develop evidence based community eating disorder services for children and young people;

– £28 million to fund the expansion of the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme;

– £15 million for improvements to perinatal mental health care; and

– £25 million for investment in inpatient services for children and young people, to build workforce capability, and to support innovation and development of online support.

A targeted and phased approach to the additional investment over future years will enable local areas to develop additional capacity and a collaborative approach across health, education and children’s services so that the money can be spent effectively. This is what is needed to make a real difference. The Government remains committed to spend the whole £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health.