To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the effects of loneliness on physical and mental health in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England during the covid-19 outbreak.

To tackle the effects of loneliness on physical and mental health in Coventry, the National Health Service and local authority are working together with other organisations through the community resilience workstream to support co-ordinated efforts in terms of community resilience in the city. Actions include building a new mental health and suicide prevention website; rolling out social prescribing with referrals from general practitioners or individuals; providing opportunities to link up locally through the Grapevine ‘Connecting for Good’ programme.

In the West Midlands, the West Midlands Combined Authority is ramping up its mental health support as the COVID-19 crisis continues and has refreshed its Thrive 2031 Mental Health Strategy.