Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evaluation his Department has undertaken of the adequacy of the (a) current and (b) future workforce requirements for clinical psychologists under the NHS England transformation plan for achieving the goals of the five-year forward view.

Health Education England (HEE) is working with NHS England, Public Health England, professional bodies, charities, experts-by-experience and others to develop and deliver a costed, multi-disciplinary workforce strategy for the future shape and skill mix of the workforce (including clinical psychologists) required to deliver the independent Mental Health Taskforce’s Five Year Forward View and the workforce recommendations set out in Future in Mind. This strategy will deliver the necessary workforce skill mix and capacity to support the core Mental Health Taskforce recommendations for improved access and quality of care. In 2015/16, HEE commissioned 526 training places for clinical psychologists, maintaining its previous level of investment in this staff group.