Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56077 on Farmer: Mental Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the 8,500 new mental health support workers include specialists trained to address the unique mental health needs of farming and rural populations.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we are recruiting 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to help ease pressure on busy services. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that their employees are trained and have the appropriate skills for the roles into which they have been appointed.

We are working with NHS England on a refreshed workforce plan, which will revolve around the three shifts to deliver our 10-Year Health Plan: moving more care from hospitals to communities; making better use of technology in health and care; and focusing on preventing sickness, not just treating it.