We are disappointed that mental health was completely absent from the Chancellor’s speech today, undermining commitments to treat it with the same urgency as physical health.
“We welcome the announcement that the two child benefit cap will finally be scrapped from April. This will lift 450,000 children out of poverty and is worth £5450 to low-income families. It will help ensure all children have a fair start in life, positively impacting their mental health.
“We hope the forthcoming child poverty strategy takes further measures to protect the mental health of children and families impacted by financial insecurity.
“The announcement of 250 new neighbourhood health centres, a policy first announced in July, is positive in terms of its potential to help cut waiting lists, but if mental health support is excluded, there is a risk that people with long-term conditions will be left without an essential element of the care they need, and people with mental health needs will be left behind. There is an ever greater risk, if the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) is watered down, that mental health services will get an even smaller share of NHS funding in the next three years. The absence of enforceable waiting time standards is already causing 1.8 million people to wait for mental health care without the same protection as those on physical health hospital waiting lists.
“We are concerned to see the return of face-to-face Work Capability Assessments (WCA). The WCA is a flawed and harmful process. We hope that the Timms Review will set out a fairer future for disability and incapacity benefits that protect people with mental health problems from poverty.
“There is compelling evidence of a significant decline in young people’s mental health in the UK over the last decade and it’s vital that the Milburn Review examines what’s driving this decline is key to knowing how to reverse it.
“Whilst there are some positive signs in this budget, we are disappointed that the Government is still not prioritising the nation’s mental health. The fact that mental health wasn’t mentioned at all the Chancellor’s speech, coupled with the weakening of protections for mental health funding through the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) are worrying signs. The Government must urgently invest in both mental health services and prevention.”
