Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for psychiatric diagnoses in Greater Manchester.

Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services.

We are also delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers for children and adults by the end of this Parliament. We are more than halfway towards this target, which will help to ease pressure on busy mental health services.

Responsibility for commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICBs). It is the role of local ICBs to consider what mental health services are needed for their populations and include the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups and local authorities.