§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of expenditure in the last five years on mental health services for children and adolescents. [145056]
§ Dr. LadymanThe Department has made a significant investment in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) of some £105 million over the period 2000–03.
A number of positive outcomes have been reported including improved access to specialist services, the development of new services for groups that traditionally have found it difficult to access CAMHS and better support to other agencies. In particular, this additional investment has led to a significant increase in multi-disciplinary and joint working across professions and agencies, engaging key local players in the development of the service.
But this is only the first stage in a continuing programme of radical improvements in the quality and quantity of CAMHS. Our current public service agreement target provides for an expansion of the service by at least 10 per cent. per year for the next three years, leading to a comprehensive service, able to respond to all children with mental health needs in all areas, by 2006. This development is underpinned by over £250 million of additional funding, including £140 million for local authorities.