To ask the Minister of Health whether his Department has fulfilled the funding requirements outlined in the Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031 Funding Plan since its publication.

The Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031 was published alongside a 10-year Funding Plan. The Funding Plan outlined that £1.2bn is needed to fully implement the Strategy over the 10-year period. This investment required to deliver the Strategy is in addition to existing expenditure in mental health services.

To date, in the absence of additional funding, the Department has been using its existing funding to progress implementation of the Strategy. While this funding has allowed the commencement of enabling actions and scope to take forward work on some other priorities, it does not match the levels of funding as set out in the Funding Plan. A comparison between what has been allocated to the Strategy against the requirement outlined within the funding plan is set out below.

As a result, delivery plans to date have prioritised those actions which will have a direct service user impact, such as those aimed at alleviating pressures and improving outcomes, as well as those that will continue to enable longer term reform of our mental health provision.

The allocation for 2024/25 has not yet been finalised but it is expected that the gap between what is allocated and what is set out in the Funding Plan will continue to grow in the absence of additional funding.