The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Information about PIP claimants’ primary conditions is published on the Stat Xplore website (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/).

In December 2025, the Government launched an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. This independent review will inform a new approach that reduces waiting times, improves the quality of care, and promotes prevention and early intervention. The independent review’s final report, due in the summer, will make recommendations on how the Government, the health system, and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

The Government also announced on 15 May a new Mental Health Strategy for England, with the aim of transforming mental health care into a system that responds earlier, reduces waiting times for support, and supports people, including people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistic people, to participate in education and work. It will be informed by the findings and recommendations from the Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism.

In the meantime, the Government is continuing to expand Mental Health Support Teams so that every school and college can access mental health support. These teams provide early intervention and work with education staff, parents, and carers to identify needs sooner and support children and young people before difficulties escalate. We are also improving the capability of the workforce to respond to children and young people with more complex needs, including those experiencing trauma, distress, and neurodivergence, so that they can receive the right support at the right time.

We are also committed to transforming outcomes for children, young people, and their families with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through pivotal reforms. We want these reforms to support the treatment to prevention shift in our 10-Year Health Plan and its focus on early identification of needs, support, and intervention, enabling more children to access support and thrive in inclusive mainstream settings.

To support this ambition, over the next three years £1.6 billion will be invested to make the mainstream system more inclusive, building on the latest evidence and practice, alongside £1.8 billion being invested over three years for the new Experts at Hand offer, which will wrap education and health professionals around mainstream settings. By 2028, up to £15 million will have been invested to build the evidence base for, and then provide, National Inclusion Standards. These will set out, for the first time, what support that should be available in every mainstream setting. We will also refresh areas of need, update guidance on reasonable adjustments, and revise the SEND Code of Practice.

The Government recognises concerns around the sufficiency of National Health Service professionals, including clinical psychologists and specialist staff, to meet rising demand for support, such as young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety. We have already delivered on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers, three years ahead of schedule, which is helping to expand capacity across a range of services and support earlier access to care.

However, we are clear that increasing the workforce alone is not enough to meet growing need. That is why we are transforming mental health services through the 10-Year Health Plan, shifting towards prevention and earlier intervention, expanding community-based support, and improving access for children and young people, including through mental health support teams in schools and colleges and wider service improvements.

We are also developing a new mental health strategy for England, which will set out how we will go further to improve access, reduce waiting times, and ensure services respond more effectively to rising demand.

The Department has made no assessment of the impact of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on generalised anxiety and panic disorder or on access to treatment for marginalised groups.

NICE keeps its published guidelines under active surveillance and decisions on whether they should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board in line with its published prioritisation framework. NICE’s prioritisation board will be considering whether the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder should be updated following a letter from the UK Council for Psychotherapy.

The Government has made no such assessment. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are developed independently by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. They represent best practice and healthcare professionals are expected to take them fully into account in the care and treatment of their patients. NICE keeps its guidance under active surveillance and decisions on whether published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. There are currently no plans to update the guideline on generalised anxiety or panic disorder.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are developed by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. They represent best practice, and healthcare professionals are expected to take them fully into account in the care and treatment of their patients. NICE keeps its guidance under active surveillance and decisions on whether published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. There are currently no plans to update the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder.

The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on generalised anxiety and panic disorders, and has not made any representations to NICE regarding a review of the guideline.

NICE is an independent body and is responsible for keeping its guidelines up to date in light of new evidence. NICE keeps its guidance under active surveillance and decisions on whether published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. There are currently no plans to update the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder.

NICE is currently updating or reviewing several guidelines related to mental health conditions, including its guidelines on bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder.

The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on anxiety disorders or the adequacy of the guideline in reflecting patients’ choice of therapies.

NICE is an independent body and its guidelines are developed by experts on the basis of a thorough assessment of the evidence and through extensive engagement with interested parties. NICE is also responsible for making decisions on whether its published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence or emerging issues not in the scope of the original guideline.

The requested information on Motability is not part of our routine statistical releases.

The requested information on Motability is not part of our routine statistical releases.

The NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of the people in Yeovil.

People with anxiety can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies or their general practitioner can refer them. NHS Talking Therapies offer evidence-based psychological therapies to help with common mental health problems such as anxiety.

Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down. We are delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers for children and adults by the end of this Parliament.  6,700 of these workers have been recruited since July 2024, meaning we are more than halfway towards our target.

It is the responsibility of each provider of mental health services to ensure that training meets the learning needs of their staff and that all staff adhere to and keep themselves appraised of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.

Additionally, NHS England provides a number of further training programmes that are accessible to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and other healthcare staff.

We will also publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.  We will ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.

Support from the department includes an online resource hub that hosts practical and evidence-informed resources to support the delivery of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The hub includes support for responding to anxiety-related issues and can be found here: https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.

Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) continue to roll out in schools and colleges across the country, delivering evidence-based interventions for early mental health issues and supporting mental health leads with their whole school approach. As of April 2024, MHSTs covered 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England and the department expects coverage to have reached at least 50% of pupils and learners this year. Through expanding MHSTs, the government will make sure that every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.

Statutory guidance for virtual school heads sets out that they should, where possible, work with designated teachers to ensure that schools are able to identify signs of potential mental health issues and know how to access further assessment and support where necessary. This includes ensuring that schools understand the impact that issues such as trauma and attachment difficulties can have on looked-after and previously looked-after children.

Provision of continuing professional development for employed social workers is a matter for their employer. The regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets the professional standards which all social workers must meet. These require social workers to promote the strength and wellbeing of people, including children, and provide or support people to access advice and services tailored to meet their needs.

The information requested is not held. National Health Service prescriptions do not list the indication for which the medicine is prescribed. It is therefore not possible to determine from prescribing data held by the NHS Business Services Authority the number of people being prescribed propranolol to treat anxiety.

No such estimates have been made, as the information is not held in the format requested. Veterans may be treated in several National Health Service settings, including primary care, community mental health, and specialist services. Veterans are not systematically identified in all settings, and data is not systematically collated and aggregated across settings.

The Department does not use a specific clinical definition of anxiety as Work Capability Assessments and Personal Independence Payment assessments are functional assessments that focus on the impacts of a person’s health condition or disability on their daily life, rather than the diagnosis itself.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The remit of the NIHR is early translational, that is experimental medicine, clinical and applied health research, and social care research. In 2022/23, the NIHR spent approximately £99 million on research into mental health. In the last 10 years, the NIHR has invested approximately £41.5 million into research specifically focused, or including a focus, on anxiety and/or anxiety disorder. The NIHR is not currently funding any research explicitly focused on ‘bad nerves’. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mental health.

Figures for the number of people currently claiming disability benefits – Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and Attendance Allowance (AA) due to mental health conditions.

Table (a) – Claimants on the PIP caseload with mental health conditions

Table (b) – Claimants on the DLA caseload with mental health conditions

Table (c) – Claimants on the AA caseload with mental health conditions

Notes:

• These figures are produced using recent data available from Stat-Xplore (May 2023).
• Figures for PIP and DLA exclude Scotland.
• Figures for AA include Scotland (as AA has yet to be devolved to Scotland).
• Figures for PIP are cases where psychiatric disorders have been listed as the claimant’s main disabling condition.
• A PIP claimant’s main disabling condition is recorded during their assessment. Medical conditions are shown as recorded on the PIP Computer System (PIPCS).
• Claimants may have multiple conditions which are not recorded by PIPCS.
• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 100.
• Figures for DLA and AA are cases where psychosis, psychoneurosis, or personality disorder have been recorded as the claimant’s main disabling condition.
• Main disabling condition is the main medical reason for the claim. Medical conditions are sourced from information recorded on the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) computer system (DLACS) and AA computer system.
• Claimants may have multiple conditions which are not recorded by DLACS or the AA computer system.