Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to (a) increase the importance of anti-stigma and anti-discrimination in mental health planning and (b) take steps to ensure that (i) people from BAME communities, (ii) people experiencing less well known or understood mental health problems and (iii) other groups severely affected by mental health stigma benefit from national mental health anti-stigma programmes; and if he will make a statement.

The Government is committed to addressing mental health inequalities, stigma and discrimination. Every Department, as well as major corporations, have made a Time to Change Pledge to continue challenging mental health stigma and the inequalities experienced by people with mental illness.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to a more concerted and systematic approach to reducing health inequalities and addressing unwarranted variation in care, including for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are known to access mental health care less than people from white backgrounds and are more likely to have mental health problems. This is supported by the investment of an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to transform and expand mental health services for all sections of the population.

Our Mental Health Act Reform White Paper will set out our proposals to improve the dignity and choices for people with mental illness, including for people from BAME communities.