Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including mental health waiting lists in the targets outlined in the Plan for Change.

Waiting lists for those referred for support are too high across England, including in rural communities. People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures hubs in communities.

We recognise the unique challenges for mental health services across England, the growing treatment gap, and the spectrum of interventions required, from prevention to early intervention and treatment for mental ill-health. Early engagement from our 10-Year Health Plan has indicated that early mental health support and community-based interventions are critical in delivering substantial long-term health benefits to the public.