Improving mental health is at the heart of this Government’s agenda and capital investment to modernise the mental health estate is a key part of the Government’s ambition to achieve greater parity between physical and mental health care.

The Government has announced investments of over £400 million in improving the mental health estate since July 2017. Most recently this included £72.3 million for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to develop a new adult mental health inpatient unit and £33 million to Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust for a 40-bed low secure unit for people with learning disabilities, both of which were included in the £850 million capital funding for 20 hospital upgrades announced by the Prime Minister on 5 August. In addition, the Department spent almost £19 million capital last year on central programmes to support mental health services. This includes schemes to deliver Perinatal Mental Health Mother and Baby Units to deliver more personalised care to expectant and new mums with serious mental ill health.

As set out in the new Health Infrastructure Plan on 30 September, the Government is committed to making further strategic investments to modernise mental health facilities, which will be confirmed when the Department receives a multiyear capital settlement at the next capital review.

We have already accepted a number of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983’s recommendations and we will publish a White Paper by the end of this year, setting out our response in full. This will pave the way for reform to the Act and tackle issues addressed by the Review.

There will be a public consultation on the reforms. We also plan to run a number of public engagement events, in particular, with those who have had direct experience of the Act.

We have also drawn on the expertise of service users, carers and professionals as we have considered the review’s recommendations.

The interim NHS People Plan was published on 3 June 2019 and sets out the action we will take now and over the long term to address workforce shortages, strengthen education and training, and improve culture and leadership in the National Health Service. The interim NHS People Plan recognises that urgent action must be taken to increase the numbers of mental health nurses and to strengthen the training and skill mix for those working in mental health.

Mental health matters as much as physical health and the Government is prioritising resources to deliver real improvements for those who access services and work in that sector.

The final NHS People Plan is due to be published in the next few months.

The Government is working to ensure that all general practitioners are suitably trained in mental health issues. Mental health care is an essential element of general practice. Mental health care is emphasised in the Royal College of General Practitioners (GP) curriculum. All GP specialty trainees receive mental health training in their 18 months in general practice and this is regarded as a core element of their training.

Health Education England is working with NHS England and Royal College of General Practitioners to further improve mental health training of GPs as part of building training capacity in primary care for multi-professional, multi-disciplinary training, clinical placements and continuing professional development.

Tacking mental health discrimination in the workplace is a priority for the Government. We are considering the scope for further support and protection for people with mental health conditions.

The Equality Act 2010 already protects people whose mental health conditions meet the definition of disability in the Act, specifically a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities’.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Government have not conducted a public consultation on the law in relation to assisted suicide. We remain of the view that any change to the law in this sensitive area is a matter of conscience and a matter for Parliament, rather than one of Government policy.

291218: All reports submitted to Action Fraud are subject to risk assessments, which take into account the following:

• Vulnerability of the victim(s)
• Priority crime types i.e. those assessed as the highest harm across multiple categories
• Financial harm of individual or linked cases
• Lines of inquiry for investigations on suspect information or identifiers, i.e. account information, email addresses, telephone numbers, websites
• Crime or not under Home Office Counting Rules
• Other risk indicators through an assessment of key words which vary over time
• Links with other reports of similar offences

291223: Action Fraud is working in conjunction with Victim Support in London to identify vulnerable victims and provide them with additional advice and support to stop them becoming repeat victims.

• All forces receive details of victims in their area each week, which enables them to deliver victim support and provide advice and guidance on crime prevention
• Particularly high risk reports with victim care needs are prioritised and sent to forces for further action
• The National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (NECVCU) pilot delivers victim care for victims whose cases have not been referred to a local police force for investigation, covering specific force areas: City of London Police, Metropolitan Police, Nottinghamshire, West Midlands, Kent and Greater Manchester.
• NFIB Protect Alerts are issued to the public and local neighbourhood policing teams based on reporting trends and intelligence
• NFIB disrupts websites, emails and telephone numbers reportedly engaged in fraud to prevent further offending

NFIB’s Project Recall alerts banks when reports of recent fraudulent transactions are made, which often results in payments being stopped or returned to the victim.

Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and cyber crime. Since April 2013, it has taken reports of these crimes on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales. Once Action Fraud has received a crime report, that information is considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created and sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. It is still for local forces to consider enforcement activity. Both Action Fraud and the NFIB are run by the City of London Police, which is the national lead force for fraud.

291218: All reports submitted to Action Fraud are subject to risk assessments, which take into account the following:

• Vulnerability of the victim(s)
• Priority crime types i.e. those assessed as the highest harm across multiple categories
• Financial harm of individual or linked cases
• Lines of inquiry for investigations on suspect information or identifiers, i.e. account information, email addresses, telephone numbers, websites
• Crime or not under Home Office Counting Rules
• Other risk indicators through an assessment of key words which vary over time
• Links with other reports of similar offences

291223: Action Fraud is working in conjunction with Victim Support in London to identify vulnerable victims and provide them with additional advice and support to stop them becoming repeat victims.

• All forces receive details of victims in their area each week, which enables them to deliver victim support and provide advice and guidance on crime prevention
• Particularly high risk reports with victim care needs are prioritised and sent to forces for further action
• The National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (NECVCU) pilot delivers victim care for victims whose cases have not been referred to a local police force for investigation, covering specific force areas: City of London Police, Metropolitan Police, Nottinghamshire, West Midlands, Kent and Greater Manchester.
• NFIB Protect Alerts are issued to the public and local neighbourhood policing teams based on reporting trends and intelligence
• NFIB disrupts websites, emails and telephone numbers reportedly engaged in fraud to prevent further offending

NFIB’s Project Recall alerts banks when reports of recent fraudulent transactions are made, which often results in payments being stopped or returned to the victim.

Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and cyber crime. Since April 2013, it has taken reports of these crimes on behalf of all police forces in England and Wales. Once Action Fraud has received a crime report, that information is considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created and sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. It is still for local forces to consider enforcement activity. Both Action Fraud and the NFIB are run by the City of London Police, which is the national lead force for fraud.

Thank you for calling me to respond, Mr Speaker, and I hope that your voice is fully recovered very soon. The UK tourism industry is of vital importance to the UK, with 38 million visitors from overseas in 2018 spending £22.9 billion. A total of 1.6 million jobs are supported by the sector, and the Government are working closely with the industry on delivering both the tourism sector deal and the international business events action plan.

The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at National Health Service sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. The Department have published the NHS Car Parking Principles which clearly state that concessions should be offered to groups who most need help, such as disabled people including those with blue badges and temporary disabilities.

Information is not collected on car parking costs, concessionary parking arrangements for blue badge holders or the number of private provider companies that operate NHS hospital car parks in England.

The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at National Health Service sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. The Department have published the NHS Car Parking Principles which clearly state that concessions should be offered to groups who most need help, such as disabled people including those with blue badges and temporary disabilities.

Information is not collected on car parking costs, concessionary parking arrangements for blue badge holders or the number of private provider companies that operate NHS hospital car parks in England.