Liz Twist

Liz Twist

Labour — Blaydon and Consett

Speaking in the House of Commons on 17 June 2026

Debate

Mental Health: Parity of Esteem

Contribution

My hon. Friend is quite right to point to those figures and to say that we need much more input into tackling that difference in funding. As I said, the proportion of NHS funding spent on mental health is expected to decline, and we need to look again at that. That is exactly why the mental health investment standard was introduced, and why we need the planned 10-year mental health strategy, when it is published, to set out the actions we need to take to ensure that mental health has parity of esteem with physical health. It is vital that the MHIS continues to protect mental health spending until a suitable long-term funding measure is firmly in place to ensure that funding matches need. Three weeks ago, the interim Milburn review highlighted the unique combination of pressures faced by young people entering adulthood today, including a mental health system that cannot respond to the current level and severity of demand, a pandemic that affected their social development and an ongoing loneliness crisis.

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