Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has undertaken an equalities impact assessment of funding for mental health charities to expand support services during the covid-19 outbreak to ensure it meets the needs of LGBT people, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, disabled people and people with other protected characteristics.

The Department has provided £5 million of grant funding to Mind and the Mental Health Consortia to distribute to mental health charities to support adults and children as part of a Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund. We provided a further £4.2 million of grant funding directly to mental health charities. These investments are supporting a wide range of groups that include LGBTQ+, black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and people with disabilities.

In providing grant funding, the Department ensures the Government’s duties under the Equalities Act 2010 are met to ensure we are taking into account the needs of a diverse range of groups. The Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund also has an independently chaired governance group, including officials from the Department, which monitors the allocations from the Fund to ensure fairness and diversity.