Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times to those seeking psychological therapy to support their employment efforts.

It is unacceptable that some people are not receiving the mental health care they need. We are determined to change that. We have already taken significant steps to improve National Health Service mental health services, including hiring almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024, and thanks to an increase in NHS Talking Therapies, more adults with anxiety and depression are getting back into work.

We are continuing to roll out employment advisors in our talking therapies services to support people with common mental health conditions to seek and retain employment. These advisors help people who are in work but are struggling or facing difficulties in the workplace, for instance being off work sick or looking for work, so we can provide the right support at the right time.

We continue to meet the waiting time standard in place for NHS Talking Therapies services. The latest data from June 2025 shows 89.1% of people completing treatment waited less than six weeks for their first appointment against a target of 75%. And 98.6% of people completing treatment waited less than 18 weeks, against a target of 95%.