§ Paul HolmesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been provided to improve child and adolescent mental health services over the last three years; what the planned spending on these services is; and if he will make a statement. [170613]
§ Dr. LadymanIn the three years to March 2004, we have invested an additional £83.6 million for the development of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) delivered by the national health service and local authorities.
1799WA 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.
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 three years to March 2006. This development is further underpinned by £252 million of additional funding over the next two years.