Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing in NHS mental health services; and what steps his Department is taking to expand the mental health workforce.

No such assessment has been made. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to the expansion of the National Health Service workforce, to achieve an additional 27,000 mental health posts by 2023/24. Health Education England (HEE) is leading a programme to develop and train the mental health workforce. HEE have commissioned approximately 6,000 training places in 2020/21, with a further 9,000 trainees in 2021/22. We have provided an additional £111 million in 2021/22 for the training and education of the NHS mental health workforce, based the workforce requirements in the NHS Long Term Plan.

In July 2021, the Department commissioned HEE to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce. This will ensure we have the right numbers of staff and the appropriate skills, values and behaviours.