17 Accepted in Part

Create clear, actionable plan to deliver comprehensive mental health offer for 0-25 year olds.

Recommendation
Despite nearly a decade of commitments, the transition from Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS)—including Community Mental Health Services (CMHS)— remains a cliff edge and continues to fall short of what young people need. The Government, NHS England, and Integrated Care Boards must treat this issue as a national priority. We recommend that they create a clear, actionable plan as part of the formal response to the report, to deliver the promised “comprehensive offer for 0–25 year olds.” (Recommendation, Paragraph 114)
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts, committing service development funding for 2026-2029 to support growth in specific services like IPS, NHS Talking Therapies, and MHSTs. It requires ICBs to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard but does not provide a clear, actionable plan for a comprehensive 0-25 year old offer or addressing the transition 'cliff edge'.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government Accepted in Part
The government partially accepts this recommendation. Flexibility in funding arrangements can support local decision-making, but it is important that this does not undermine progress on transformation. NHS England regularly publishes data from across the mental health services dataset and the NHS Talking Therapies dataset to facilitate transparency and accountability on the transformation and delivery of mental health services. NHS England monitors relevant impacts through this data. ICBs are required to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) for the ICB core programme allocation. This sets a minimum level of spend on mental health services for each ICB which also reflects where funding has previously transferred from service development funding into the MHIS. In addition, service development funding has been secured for the financial years 2026 to 2027 and 2028 to 2029 to support growth in IPS, NHS Talking Therapies and MHSTs in schools and colleges.
Source
Committee Health and Social Care Committee
Inquiry Community Mental Health Services
Report 4th Report - Community Mental Health Services 02 Dec 2025 HC 566
View on Parliament website
Addressee Bodies
Department of Health and Social Care
Timeline
Recommendation age 0.7 yr
Report published 02 Dec 2025