To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 1 June 2009, Official Report, column 118W, on mental health services, whether the £13 million package of measures to support people with distress is new money. (279993)

The £13 million funding for 2009-10 announced by the Government in March for the package of measures designed to support people who are experiencing depression or anxiety to get back to work is newly allocated money. This is additional to the existing funding for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme that will rise to £173 million in the third year (2010-11).

The new £13 million funding will help to fund a faster roll-out of talking therapies; a new network of employment support workers linked to every talking therapy service who will provide job support for people with common mental health problems; training of health advisers on the dedicated NHS Direct phone line who are being trained to spot people who might be experiencing depression because of economic problems and to refer them to help; and better online advice and information about the availability of services near to people's homes through NHS Choices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has evaluated on the link between economic downturns and demand for psychiatric services; and if he will make a statement. (280052)

Experience from previous recessions is that the need for psychological support increases as more people face financial, job and housing worries than at other times.

The £13 million funding for 2009-10 announced by the Government in March for the package of measures designed to support people who are experiencing depression or anxiety to get back to work is newly allocated money. This is additional to the existing funding for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme that will rise to £173 million in the third year (2010-11).

The new £13 million funding will help to fund a faster roll-out of talking therapies; a new network of employment support workers linked to every talking therapy service who will provide job support for people with common mental health problems; training of health advisers on the dedicated NHS Direct phone line who are being trained to spot people who might be experiencing depression because of economic problems and to refer them to help; and better online advice and information about the availability of services near to people's homes through NHS Choices.