LAST Friday I met with a number of constituents who were concerned about mental health provision locally, writes Redditch MP Karen Lumley.

I agree that tackling poor mental health in the UK must be a priority and thus far it has been patchy and even poor.

Ministers however have now actually legislated to ensure it is treated with the same importance as physical health.

Progress is being made with more investment in mental health than ever before and an estimated 1,400 more people accessing mental health services every day compared to 2010 - up 40 per cent, as well as around 750,000 more people accessing talking therapies since 2009/10.

In February 2016, an independent Mental Health Taskforce published a new national strategy, setting out an ambitious vision for mental health services.

To make these recommendations a reality, the Government will spend an additional £1 billion on mental health by 2020-21 to improve access to services so people receive the right care in the right place when they need it most.

This includes increasing the number of people completing talking therapies by 600,000 per year, and helping 20,000 more people to find or stay in work through placement support and talking therapies.

The Government has also introduced the first ever mental health access and waiting time standards to ensure 75 per cent of people referred for talking therapies to treat common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety start treatment within six weeks.

Prime Minister Theresa May will invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty today (Wednesday), thus starting the two-year process of negotiations to attempt to reach a deal before Britain officially leaves the EU in March 2019.

The Government is also due to publish its Great Repeal Bill, giving powers to amend some EU laws, on Thursday of this week.

This bill will pave the way for EU laws to be transferred into British legislation.

Nobody should believe that the negotiation process will be brief or straightforward.

It is going to require significant expertise and a consistent approach.

However, I am confident that with Theresa May as our Prime Minister, there is no one better to provide the strong leadership required to form a new partnership with the European Union and build a more global Britain.

As ever, to keep up to date with what I am doing, visit tellkaren.com or follow facebook.com.