THE headline and story in The Press of December 16 (“Charity slams council’s lack of mental health cash”) presents a misleading picture of what North Yorkshire County Council does and spends to support people with mental-health issues.

Having taken up post earlier this year as the county council’s new corporate director responsible for Adult Social Care and Public Health, I have, with executive members, made mental health one of our priorities.

I have worked in mental-health services throughout my career and know how important good mental-health care, and the wider promotion of mental well-being, is to the one in four of us who will experience a mental-health issue.

To meet this priority, we have maintained the current level of Adult Social Care spending this year and next, in spite of the savings which NYCC is having to make overall. We have also tried to prioritise housing-related projects under the Supporting People programme.

Overall, the county council spends £7m on social care mental-health services for people under 65, and a significant proportion of the £63m it spends on older people is targeted towards people with dementia.

The figures quoted in relation to public health relate in part to the historic patterns of spend which the county council inherited from the former Primary Care Trust.

These budgets also included commitments to sexual health and substance misuse services, which the county council has recently re-commissioned and where we expect to make savings over the next five years.

We are taking action to invest in mental well-being as well as tackling loneliness and isolation and suicide prevention.

All too often, mental ill-health is treated as a taboo and people who experience it are stigmatised, with statistically less chance of employment and the likelihood of a shorter life expectancy. It’s time for this to change.

Richard Webb, Corporate Director, Health and Adult Services, North Yorkshire County Council.