Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee

Recommendation 14

4th Report - Community Mental Health Services Published 2 Dec 2025 Addressed to Department of Health and Social Care
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We would also like the Government to set out how people with lived experience will be involved in its development and how the MSF will be integrated with wider systems of support including those provided by the VCFSE sector and local authorities. It is essential that the MSF takes full account of the learnings and insights from the 24/7 Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre pilots. (Recommendation, Paragraph 99) 76 Creating the foundations for high-quality community-based care

From: Health and Social Care Committee, 4th Report - Community Mental Health Services (HC 566), 2 December 2025

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 11 March 2026 (deadline 2 February 2026).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government's response to the committee's report accepts some recommendations, partially accepts others and does not accept others, and sets out a wider programme of mental health reform.

  • On a 24/7 neighbourhood centre in every community, the government "partially accepts", saying it "will look at the outcome of the pilots carefully" and will make available capital funding of £473 million over 4 years for new models.
  • It does not accept the call for an independent evaluation of the Community Mental Health Framework, pointing to learning already shared by NHS England and to monitoring through the national mental health services dataset.
  • It accepts the recommendation on the Modern Service Framework for severe mental illness, saying "we will confirm timelines for publication in due course".
  • On legislating for the Mental Health Investment Standard, it partially accepts but says "We will not be making further legislative changes in relation to mental health spending at this time."

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error