Health Minister Claire Christian says spending on mental health services is actually going up.
She makes the claim in a response to a written Tynwald question from Douglas North MHK David Ashford.
He had asked for an explanation for the “approximately £2.5 million reduction between the 2025/26 probable expenditure and 2026/27 budget for Mental Health Services”.
But the minister says the figures he were using referred to “net probable” expenditure and “net budget”, which were “not directly comparable”‘.
She adds: “In 2025/26 the Mental Health Services forecast their probable spend at £30.3m, with their Net Budget set at £30.2m.
“For 2026/27 the Mental Health Services forecast their probable spend at £33.5m, with their Net Budget set at £30.9m – an actual budget increase of £0.76m on the previous year.”
Christian also says the figures in the Budget Pink Book did not necessarily reflect the “final allocation” of resources in Manx Care.
She adds: “Following completion of Manx Care’s internal planning process for 2026-27, the budget allocated to Mental Health Services is £36.196 million, an almost £6m increase on the previous year.”
