Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the condition of the NHS mental health estate.

The latest available data on the condition of the National Health Service mental health estate was published in October 2019. According to this data, the cost to eradicate backlog maintenance across mental health and learning disability trusts was £342 million. The publication of data for 2019-20 was delayed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and is due to be published in January 2021.

In October 2020, the Government announced more than £400 million to eradicate dormitory accommodation from mental health facilities, as part of the Government’s record investment in NHS infrastructure. This investment will improve the safety, privacy and dignity of patients suffering with mental illness.

The Government has also recently announced that 40 hospitals are to be built by 2030 and this includes new mental health hospitals in Northgate and in Poole. A competition will be announced in due course for eight further hospital schemes.