4th Report - Community Mental Health Services

Select Committee
Health and Social Care Committee HC 566 2 December 2025
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 32 items (30 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 32 of 32 classified)
Accepted 4
Accepted in Part 11
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 2
Not Addressed 11
Rejected 1
Government response
Government Response to the Committees' Fourth report · published 11 Mar 2026
Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker
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Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results
1 Recommendation Accepted
Severity gap reveals unacceptable failing in timely access to mental health care
Recommendation
Timely access to mental health care is not just a matter of convenience— it is a matter of safety, dignity, and equity. Delays in care can lead to preventable crises, greater distress, poorer outcomes, and higher costs to the system. … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts, committing to embedding the voice of people with lived experience in person-centred care delivery. They highlight community-based mental health centres as an example where experts by experience co-produce models to ensure high-quality, timely care, not just at crisis points.
Department of Health and Social Care
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23 Recommendation Accepted
Support ICBs to adopt multi-year contracts for VCFSE organisations delivering community mental health services.
Recommendation
The Department and NHE England should support ICBs to move away from short-term commissioning cycles to multi-year contracts for VCFSE organisations supporting the delivery of CMHS. The publication of the Strategic Commissioning Framework presents an opportunity to enable the bold … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, acknowledging the importance of multi-year contracts for VCFSE organisations and noting the NHS medium-term planning framework facilitates this. A strategic commissioning development programme will provide practical support to ICBs during 2026-2027 to strengthen commissioning skills.
Department of Health and Social Care
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25 Recommendation Accepted
Support neighbourhood pilot sites to address digital interoperability challenges and share best practice.
Recommendation
In order for the neighbourhood pilots to realise the potential of the innovative model of care they are trialling, the Government should support the pilot sites to address challenges with digital interoperability, for example through sharing of learning and best … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating NHS England is working with pilot sites to identify digital interoperability barriers and share learning. Insights from these pilots will be collated to inform future guidance and support the implementation of neighbourhood-based models of care if scaled up.
Department of Health and Social Care
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32 Recommendation Accepted
Set out proposals to strengthen mental health system accountability, including Race Equality Framework implementation.
Recommendation
The sector has called for a Mental Health Commissioner to address concerns about a lack of accountability across the mental health system. The Government has said it does not want to take this approach. We ask it to set out … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, outlining that its new approach to mental health will strengthen accountability with clearer standards and transparency. It confirms the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework is now a contractual requirement, with NHS England supporting its full implementation, and promises further proposals for system-wide accountability.
Department of Health and Social Care
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