Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to maintain the current levels of total funding for UK mental health research after the UK leaves the EU.

The Government is committed to ensuring leaving the European Union is a success for the health and social care sector as well as the United Kingdom. The Government funders of health research do not generally set a target for research spend into specific areas, but the need for continuing and effective investment in mental health research is recognised.

In addition to the ten year framework for mental health research, produced by the Department in collaboration with the mental health community, which will be published by the end of the year, the research councils have published their own mental health research strategies in 2017. These demonstrate the high importance attached by research funders to the need for a step change in mental health research. A cross-research council funding call has recently been announced for ‘network plus’ awards, which will build a cross-disciplinary research community.