NHS 10-Year Plan

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her interest. Of course, the 10-year health plan sets out how we will fight cancer on all fronts. She is quite right that the national cancer plan is going to be published later this year, setting out in detail how we will increase survival rates through early diagnosis and access to better-quality treatment, and how we move forward with care in the community to help with lives beyond cancer. There is a great deal of detail behind this; I cannot go into it now, but I am happy to discuss it.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the emphasis in the plan on community mental health services and the shift towards 24/7 neighbourhood working. But for this to work, it will have to be achieved by significant rebalancing of resources towards community services. The share of overall NHS spending on mental health has fallen for the last two years and is expected to fall again this year. Although I looked hard in the plan for any reference to the mental health investment standard, I could not see it. Can the Minister tell us what is happening to the standard?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I do not have that specific information to hand, but I am very happy to write to the noble Baroness. Mental health is written throughout the plan, for both adults and children. All the work we are doing in schools—opening up access and making sure that mental health is treated in the way that it needs to be—is one of the major commitments that we have made through the plan.