Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government by how much demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services is increasing or decreasing in each of the past five years for people aged (1) under 16, (2) 16-24, (3) 25-34, (4) 35-49, (5) 50-64, and (6) over 65.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of people in contact with National Health Service funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services, in each financial year between 2020/21 and 2024/25:
Age group | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Under 16 years old | 593,297 | 776,750 | 869,206 | 915,617 | 986,814 |
16-24 years old | 499,690 | 595,233 | 642,990 | 640,187 | 678,667 |
25-34 years old | 385,511 | 438,756 | 500,668 | 542,170 | 606,461 |
35-49 years old | 424,031 | 466,396 | 525,588 | 581,642 | 661,362 |
50-64 years old | 331,311 | 357,524 | 388,097 | 418,523 | 449,505 |
65 years old and over | 563,811 | 609,373 | 647,310 | 675,575 | 685,797 |
UNKNOWN | 5,593 | 12,663 | 9,005 | 17,112 | 60,684 |
Source: Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS)
Notes:
The following table shows the number of people known to be in contact with NHS Talking Therapies in each financial year between 2020/21 and 2024/25:
Age group | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|
Under 16 years old | 1,222 | 1,189 | 925 | 886 | 749 |
|
16-24 years old | 360,673 | 424,826 | 398,859 | 370,377 | 350,213 |
|
25-34 years old | 487,273 | 571,094 | 563,973 | 555,142 | 543,044 |
|
35-49 years old | 437,838 | 514,275 | 537,364 | 564,755 | 583,614 |
|
50-64 years old | 265,491 | 311,633 | 332,821 | 358,120 | 366,773 |
|
65 years old and over | 89,446 | 108,885 | 123,740 | 136,297 | 140,262 |
|
Source: Improving Accessing to Psychological Therapies dataset Notes:
| ||||||
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust on meeting national targets on Autism and ADHD assessments in children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions on a wide range of matters, including with trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs).
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future and recognises the need for early intervention and support.
It is the responsibility of ICBs to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to neurodevelopmental assessments.
Through the Medium-term planning framework, published 24 October, NHS England has set clear expectations for local ICBs and trusts to improve access, experience, and outcomes for autism and ADHD services over the next three years, focusing on improving quality and productivity.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing time-limited interim access pathways for rare cancer treatments where published clinical evidence and specialist expertise already exist but routine commissioning routes are not yet in place.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered changes to the use of individual funding requests for rare cancer treatments, particularly the requirement for exceptionality, for patients who have no alternative clinically appropriate treatment options.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of delays in commissioning decisions on (1) outcomes, and (2) quality of life, for patients with rare cancers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the influence of (1) social media, and (2) greater public awareness, on self-diagnosis and subsequent formal diagnosis of mental health conditions; and what guidance they have provided to clinicians about those influences.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2019, the UK Chief Medical Officers published a commentary on the findings of a systematic review on screen-based activities and children’s mental health. They found an association between screen-based activities and mental health but could not establish causality. The commentary is avaiable in the document attached.
On 20 January 2026, the Government announced a forthcoming consultation on how to ensure children have a healthy relationship with devices, introduce rapid trials on measures to reduce screentime and limit access at night, and produce evidence-informed screentime guidance for parents of children aged five to 16 years old. This three-month consultation will be evidence-led, with input from independent experts, and will include determining the right minimum age for children to access social media. It will report in the summer.
Over the past decade, greater public awareness and reduced stigma around mental health have coincided with a rise in common mental health conditions and increased demand for National Health Service support, highlighting the need to better understand and address people’s needs.
The independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism will therefore examine a range of potential drivers of mental health conditions, the impact of clinical practice, including the role of diagnosis, opportunities for prevention and early intervention, and models of support within and beyond the NHS.
The review’s Terms of Reference are published on the GOV.UK website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ringfence funding for brain cancer research.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is a major area of NIHR spending at £141.6 million in 2024/25, reflecting its high priority.
Too little is known about how to prevent, diagnose, and manage brain tumours. They remain one of the hardest cancers to treat and a challenging area for research. That is why we are committed to furthering our investment in brain cancer research and have already taken steps to stimulate scientific progress.
In December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. Significant further funding is due to be awarded shortly. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including brain cancer. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on brain cancer to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of Yellow Card reporting for capturing cases of Topical Steroid Withdrawal.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department, with responsibility for ensuring medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and efficacy.
In 2021, the MHRA published a Public Assessment Report (PAR), reviewing the available evidence for topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) reactions, which can be found at the following link:
To inform this report, a comprehensive review of the available evidence was undertaken. This included an assessment of data from Yellow Card reports to identify suspected spontaneous cases of TSW reactions associated with topical corticosteroids on the Yellow Card database, as well as information from the published literature and other medicines regulators. The review considered whether regulatory action was required to minimise the risk of these events.
The PAR resulted in two Drug Safety Updates in 2021 and 2024 which aimed to raise awareness on the risk of TSW reactions and introduce new labelling. Both updates are available, respectively, at the following two links:
The MHRA uses the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) to code suspected adverse drug reactions reported by patients and healthcare professionals via the Yellow Card scheme. MedDRA is an international, clinically validated medical terminology used by regulatory authorities and the biopharmaceutical industry throughout the entire regulatory process, from pre-marketing to post-marketing safety monitoring. MedDRA is updated twice annually, and new terms can be proposed by any MedDRA users. Following the publication of the PAR, the term “Topical steroid withdrawal reaction” was added to MedDRA as a lower level term in version 24.1 and made available to users of the Yellow Card website in February 2022 as part of routine updates. This helps to ensure that more reports pertaining to TSW reactions are appropriately captured. The MHRA continues to closely monitor Yellow Card reports submitted for suspected TSW reactions.
The MHRA continues to engage with the British Association of Dermatologist who have also released a statement, which is available at the following link:
https://cdn.bad.org.uk/uploads/2024/02/22095550/Topical-Steroid-Withdrawal-Joint-Statement.pdf
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken of the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and the prevalence of mental health conditions, particularly among children and young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Research recently completed and funded by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre has found that socioeconomic inequalities in children’s mental health are evident by age five and persist throughout childhood and adolescence. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of digital exclusion on access to healthcare services, including booking appointments and accessing remote consultations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate.
This means that although we promote digital first services to those who choose to use them, a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally to ensure continued, equitable access to care.
These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.