Today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced her Spring Statement including cuts to the health top-up for Universal Credit for new claimants, but very few announcements in terms of mental health.

Responding to the statement on behalf of Mental Health Matters, Chief Executive Officer, Jane Hughes, commented:

"The mental health sector had many pressing issues that it was hopeful the government would address today, instead the full 50-page Spring Statement doesn’t reference mental health even once. So many key programmes to support those with their mental health received no guarantees from the Chancellor today.

However, the additional employment support could have a profound impact on those who require more acute levels of support back into the workplace, and it underlines the importance of programmes like the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for those with Severe Mental Illness (SMI). Yet, despite calls for the long-term funding situation to be addressed the situation for those working in, and accessing, the Employment Advisors in Talking Therapies programme remains untenable.

As the third sector prepares for the imminent National Insurance rise announced in the Autumn Budget, charity partners of the NHS need more certainty from the government, not just promises of, as of yet, unannounced allocations.

We are also concerned to learn of the plans to halve the health top-up for new Universal Credit claimants. As we said last week, people with mental health conditions need support, not ultimatums. The government should think again about the destructive impact that these planned cuts will have on those who are struggling with their mental health, as this will do nothing to address the underlying reasons why people may be unable to work.

The government need to listen to the health sector and provide more certainty, which we hope will be forthcoming in the days following this statement".