Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Shastri-Hurst Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. May I start by associating myself with your remarks on the tragic events involving Helen Haines over the last 24 hours?

According to a recent report from Future Minds, more than 2.7 million referrals have been made since the last election to children’s and young people’s mental health services in England, with more than a third of those referred still awaiting treatment. How can the Government seriously claim to be tackling the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training while simultaneously overseeing the waiting list run out of control?

[Alison McGovern]

I refer the shadow Minister to the Fonagy review. It details the causes, which started before covid, of the rise in mental distress for young people. As I mentioned a moment ago, we are already asking ICBs to reduce the longest wait, and we have seen some successes with that, but we have way more to do to address this challenge. We will have more to say in the mental health strategy that will be published soon.