NHS England: MH spending growing

He said clinical commissioning group spending had risen from around £9.15bn in 2015/16 to £9.72bn in 2016/17 – up 6.3% – compared with 3.7% overall growth in allocations.

In a letter to the Commons Health Committee, Mr Stevens said 85% of CCGs had increased their mental health expenditure by more than the growth in their overall allocations. The mental health investment standard, introduced in 2015/16, requires each CCG to give mental health services an annual increase that at least equals the growth in their overall allocation.

Spending on specialised mental health services also increased between 2015/16 and 2016/17 from £1.83bn to almost £1.88bn – a rise of 2.6%.

CCG and specialised commissioning mental health spending increased from £10.98bn in 2015/16 to £11.6bn in 2016/17 – growth of 5.7%, compared with an overall rise in CCG and specialised spending of 3.4%.

Figures published separately on the NHS England website suggested total mental health funding would rise to £11.86bn in 2017/18.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said 86% of CCGs are meeting the standard in 2017/18, rising to 90% in 2018/19. The 2018/19 planning guidance requires, for the first time, every CCG to meet the invesment standard.