Mental Health Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle and Lord Bradley

Committee stage
Monday 24th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bradley (Lab)]

My Lords, I strongly support Amendment 131, to which, as my noble friend Lady Tyler has stated, I have added my name. I can be brief because of the eloquence and comprehensive nature with which she introduced the amendment.

First, to note my registered interests, as this is probably the last day of Committee, the establishment of a mental health commissioner was recommended by the Joint scrutiny Committee of which I was a member. So it was a great disappointment that the Government did not include it in the Bill.

As I said at Second Reading, the mental health commissioner should be a voice at national level, promoting the interests of those who are detained and who are likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act, together with the interests of their families and carers, raising awareness of their needs and challenging stigma and stereotypes. Crucially, the commissioner should be at the forefront of tracking and scrutinising the implementation of these reforms.

There is widespread support for the establishment of the commissioner, both inside and outside Parliament and from statutory, non-statutory and charitable organisations. For example, the Centre for Mental Health, for which I am an ambassador, has stated:

“A Mental Health Commissioner … would offer sustained leadership for mental health—complementary to existing roles and structures in government. They would operate both within the machinery of state and in the media and wider public sphere. They would have influence within government and the NHS, but with the freedom to speak out when necessary: to lead public debate, challenge stigma, and break boundaries and taboos”.


I totally agree with this view. However, in reply to this proposal at Second Reading, supported by many noble Lords, the Minister pushed back on it stating that there are concerns that

“the proposed mental health commissioner’s function would be potentially largely duplicative of existing bodies and functions, and nobody wants to risk diluting accountability or causing confusion”.

The Minister went on to say:

“As noble Lords will know, Dr Penny Dash has been asked by the Secretary of State to assess if the current range and combination of organisations within the healthcare regulation landscape is effective and to make recommendations of what might be needed, and I think it is important that we await her recommendations”.—[Official Report, 25/11/24; col. 584.]


The key word here, I think, is “regulation”, and I do not agree with this view.

Since Second Reading, I have looked at the terms of reference of commissioners and regulators in various areas of public policy, and I believe that these roles are quite distinct. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler: the role of the Children’s Commissioner and the separate role of the education regulator Ofsted are a good comparison. I do not think these two roles dilute accountability or cause confusion. Further, I cannot remember if it has ever been suggested that these roles should be amalgamated or that the Children’s Commissioner should be abolished. In fact, I believe that there is widespread support, particularly from the public, for the invaluable independent work undertaken by a Children’s Commissioner.

I also think the Minister herself has made a very persuasive case for a mental health commissioner in her many constructive responses to the amendments already debated, especially today. My noble friend has noted, among other things: the complexity of the legislation and its interrelationship with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the need for significant investment in community services, the development of a skilled and complex workforce, and the number of years it will take to implement all the provisions of the Bill. This will need rigorous, robust and consistent oversight of implementation and wider health policy and service developments over the next decade and beyond.

The establishment of a mental health commissioner will ensure transparency and accountability and introduce a real force for good for the development and delivery of high-quality mental health services across the country. I hope the Minister will now agree and support this amendment.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, in following two such eloquent contributions, I can be extremely brief. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, for what is clearly a major piece of work in producing this amendment. I attached my name to it because the creation of a mental health commissioner is such an important issue that it was crucial that there was a demonstration of support that was as wide as possible—a full slate of support here, even in Committee, as I am sure there will be should this come back on Report, unless the Minister says it is a great idea and she is going to go ahead with it right now.

I will add one other point of comparison, on something with which I have been a little involved myself: the comparison with the Patient Safety Commissioner. Noble Lords will remember that a case for the Patient Safety Commissioner was made from the then Government Back Benches, by Lady Cumberlege. She spent a couple of years fighting to finally get a Patient Safety Commissioner. We have seen the work that the Patient Safety Commissioner has done since the creation of the post: we have seen some very specific, detailed work on the issues of vaginal mesh and sodium valproate. Digging into the details and supporting a fight to get something done are really something that only these independent commissioner positions can do. Otherwise, very often, it falls to severely underfunded NGOs and perhaps to Members of Parliament who are enlisted in a cause but have many other calls on their time and resources as well.

We have discussed again and again how difficult it will be to bring this Bill into effect and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, said, to address the issues of discrimination and inequality that we know are already there. This is surely an absolutely obvious thing to do to help ensure—as so many noble Lords have been saying today and previously in Committee—that we get this done.