Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve mental health support services in Leicester East constituency.

The Government is committed to improving access to timely, high-quality mental health support and ensuring people can access the right help when they need it.

Since coming into office, the Government has recruited thousands of additional mental health staff, increased access to NHS Talking Therapies, begun rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges across the country, and announced significant investment in community-based mental health support, including £187 million for 100 community mental health centres and £156 million for 59 mental health emergency departments.

The Government is supporting plans for a new community-based mental health centre in Leicester, backed by £920,000 in capital investment. The centre will make support more accessible closer to home, including help with mental health, housing, debt, social connection and wellbeing.

In Leicester East, a dedicated NHS neighbourhood mental health team, based at St Peter’s Health Centre in Highfields, brings together mental health professionals and works with primary care, local authorities and voluntary sector partners to provide more joined-up support. Individual Placement and Support services also help people experiencing mental health challenges to find and retain employment, alongside wider work and health support available through general practice services and community outreach programmes.

Local community-based support includes drop-in sessions delivered jointly by NHS, local authority and voluntary sector partners, funding for voluntary and community organisations supporting women, young people and ethnically diverse communities, and Mental Health Cafés in Highfields, Thurnby Lodge and Belgrave, as well as support cafés at Leicester’s two universities.