Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on implementing the plans in Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, published on 8 October 2014.

Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, published in October 2014, set out the ambition that by 2020 the National Health Service would provide a comprehensive set of access and waiting time standards.

This was accompanied by a £120 million investment – an investment of £40 million new money in 2014/15 to lay the groundwork for introducing the standards, and £80 million in 2015/16 that will be realised out of existing NHS England budgets. This will enable the setting of the following access and waiting time standards in mental health services:

- Treatment within six weeks for 75% of people referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, with 95% of people being treated within 18 weeks;

- Treatment within two weeks for more than 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis; and

- £30 million targeted investment will help people in crisis to access effective support in accident and emergency.

Since 2008, over 3 million people have entered IAPT treatment, with over half of them having completed treatment. Over 1 million patients have reached recovery.

By end March 2015, the aim is for IAPT services to be available to at least 15% of people who could benefit. Many local areas are achieving more than this. The 15% target was set in order to ensure a credible alternative to medication was available everywhere. We will know shortly if this target has been met and will then plan about how to progress.