Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) steps the Government plans to take and (b) funding the Government plans to make available to prepare for an increase in demand for mental health services in Autumn 2020 as anticipated by NHS England as result of the covid-19 outbreak.

We remain committed to the aims in the NHS Long Term Plan to invest at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in mental health services by 2023/24.

The Chief Executive of NHS England wrote to National Health Service organisations on 31 July setting out the third phase of the NHS response to COVID-19. This includes the expectation that every clinical commissioning group continue to increase investment in mental health services. The letter also sets out that:

- Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services should fully resume;

- 24 hours a day, seven days a week crisis helplines for all ages that were established locally during the pandemic should be retained; and

- growth in the number of children and young people accessing care should be maintained.