I appreciate the tireless advocacy of organisations such as Mind and the Centre of Mental Health to hold the Government to account in this area.
While I cannot commit to supporting the campaign, I strongly believe that there has been progress towards increasing investment in mental health facilities at a national and local level in England.
I am delighted that Mental Health Trusts are being prioritised for investment in the next stage of the Government’s New Hospital Programme. Mental Health Trusts were encouraged to submit expressions of interest for funding by September 2021, and the Department expects to make a final decision on applications by spring 2022.
The Spending Review 2021 also announced that £300 million funding would be allocated by 2024-25 to complete the programme to replace over 1,200 beds in mental health dormitories across more than 50 sites with single, en-suite rooms.
This new investment is designed to support better outcomes for people affected by mental health issues. However, I recognise there is much more to do to achieve the parity of esteem between physical and mental health when it comes to services, facilities, and investment.
Reducing waiting times for mental health services is an important part of achieving this outcome. I am proud to support a Government that is setting high standards for the NHS to reduce waiting times for mental health services.
In addition to this, national funding for specialised commissioning of mental health services in England has risen from £12.0 billion in 2017/18 to £14.3 billion in 2020/21.
At a local level, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are expected to meet the mental health investment standard, so that increases in local mental health funding are proportional to overall increases in local funding. I was pleased to see that in 2020/21, all CCGs in England met this standard.