Mental health investment standard
The Government is committed to improving Mental Health services in England and has released significant funding as part of its 5-year Mental Health Implementation plan. To achieve the improvement in its Mental Health services each Integrated Care Board (ICB) and formerly Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), must meet the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS), by which their annual investment in mental health services rises at a faster rate than their overall published programme funding. Expected compliance against the MHIS is reported monthly through the Financial Performance Framework under which ICBs operate and published in the Annual Report and Accounts.
All former CCGs were required to publish a statement after the end of the financial year to state whether they consider that they have met their obligations regarding the MHIS. Each CCG was also required to appoint an independent, appropriately qualified reporting accountant to carry out a 'reasonable assurance review' on the MHIS compliance statement.
2021/22:
For 2021/22, all CCGs were required to plan to achieve the Mental Health Investment Standard and CCGs were required to spend greater than or equal to the 2021/22 target spend number confirmed by NHS England.
The independent review for 2021/22 was conducted after CCGs closed as statutory bodies and therefore successor ICBs had the responsibility for completing the review on behalf of their predecessor CCGs. NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB is the successor body of the following 8 CCGs listed below:
- NHS County Durham CCG
- NHS Newcastle Gateshead CCG
- NHS North Cumbria CCG
- NHS North Tyneside CCG
- NHS Northumberland CCG
- NHS South Tyneside CCG
- NHS Sunderland CCG
- NHS Tees Valley CCG
North Cumbria CCG commissioned Grant Thornton to undertake this assurance work, whilst the remaining 7 CCGs had commissioned Mazars LLP. This work was undertaken between November 2022 and February 2023. The following reports demonstrate the conclusion of that MHIS assurance work and the ICB, on behalf of each former CCG, confirms that;
- It has met its obligations with regards to the MHIS, and investment in mental health for financial year 2021/22 increased by a greater percentage than their overall published programme allocation.
And that
- Both Grant Thornton and Mazars’ reports conclude that each CCG’s Statement of Compliance was properly prepared in all material respects with the MHIS guidance except in relation to a small number of technical points, which in the ICBs view do not impact on the overall achievement of the standard.
The CCG statement of Compliance and the Auditor reasonable assurance reports are published below for your information.
