Mental Health Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Committee stage
Monday 20th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 102, 105 and 106 in my name. These amendments all deal with extending the provision of advocacy services to informal patients below the age of 18. When I read the other amendments in this group, I thought, “Goodness me, this is going to be a bit tricky, isn’t it?”. It felt at one point as if we were diametrically opposed, and that is not a comfortable position to be in against someone with years of expertise who is as distinguished as the noble Baroness, Lady Murphy. However, I have listened carefully to what she has to say and the nub of it is her concern about resources. On that point, I fully get it, about the workforce generally and advocates in particular. I am going to press on with my amendments none the less, because I am trying to deal with the principle as opposed to the resources.

Both the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act and the Joint Committee on the draft Bill recommended that advocacy should be extended to informal patients. Currently, only those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 have a legal right to advocacy services. The Mental Health Bill introduces a new opt-out scheme, meaning that all detained patients will get an automatic referral to advocacy services. The Bill also extends advocacy to informal patients, but they will not be captured by the new opt-out scheme, meaning that informal patients will still be required to ask for support via an advocate. This is at the very nub of the problem with which I am concerned.

It is crucial that children and young people aged under 18 admitted to mental health in-patient care informally should have an automatic referral to advocacy services, in line with those who are detained under the Act. There may not be very large numbers—that is relevant to the resource concerns—but it is worth remembering that a higher proportion of children and young people are admitted to mental health hospitals informally. Indeed, it is estimated that around 31% of under-18s are admitted to in-patient care this way—namely, on the basis of their own or parental consent. Having access to an advocate automatically will help young informal patients understand and exercise their rights and ensure they have a say in the decisions made about their care and treatment. This could also lead to improved outcomes and prevent young people being kept in hospital for any longer than they need to be—something I am sure we all agree on.

It is worth adding that the lack of access to advocacy for informal patients has been a long-standing concern. There is a real concern that children and young people admitted informally will continue to experience problems accessing an advocate under the new system proposed as part of the Bill. It has been noted that, often, young informal patients do not understand their rights and feel an underlying threat that, if they break the rules in some way, they will be sectioned. We have to take that into account. Despite the concerns about resources, which I fully understand, access to an advocate is crucial in helping children and young people who are informal patients navigate what is a very complex system.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak briefly to support the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler. The extension of advocacy services to children and young people is important, because, as she outlined, there is a disproportionate number of children who are voluntary—I think there are just under 1,000 a year—in mental health institutions.

It is also important to recognise that there are other additional rights that children have when they are detained, or when they have agreed and consented to go into hospital. They need to continue their education while they are in there. It is important to advocate for what their entitlement is while they are in hospital—I think we are all used to walking past the hospital school that is within a normal physical illness hospital—thereby enabling them to continue their education and considering what their rights are in that regard. That is obviously so important for them and their recovery, so I support the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler.

Covid-19: Education Settings

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Thursday 8th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, how will the Government support further education colleges to continue to provide blended and online learning to students needing to stay at home due to illness, infection or self-isolation when a family member has tested positive? There will clearly still be individual student absences, even when entire bubbles no longer have to isolate. With the additional support needed for students resitting English and maths GCSEs due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, what plans do the Government have to introduce a 16 to 19 pupil premium for disadvantaged students in further education and other settings?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

On disadvantaged students, this is precisely why we have made free school meals available in those settings. There is also a bursary fund that FE college staff distribute. Even in the first lockdown, FE colleges showed themselves to be some of the most adept at adjusting to remote learning. We have made it clear to colleges and schools that they need remote provision for the next academic year.

Children: Care Homes

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Monday 21st June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, there is guidance for local authorities when they are going to place a child in out-of-area care. A placement should always be governed by what is the most appropriate provision for the young person. Many of the facilities in which children are placed, such as Centrepoint and St Basils, are high-quality provision. I will write to the noble Lord in regard to the more specific question he asked about notifying the police authority to which the young person has been moved.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the government proposals for a new regulatory and inspection regime using national minimum standards for 16 and 17 year-olds in unregulated settings intentionally omit any guarantee of care, causing many in the sector to express concern that the proposals establish a dangerous precedent, whereby older children notionally in care receive only a lower level of support. It seems to go against other recent welcome policy developments to extend aspects of care, such as “staying put” and “staying close”. Will the Minister explain this seeming contradiction in policy?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, there is no contradiction in policy here. The local authority’s duty is to place young people of 16 and 17 in the most appropriate accommodation, obviously taking into account their best interests. There are certain individual circumstances that mean that the best placement for a young person—such as a 16 or 17 year-old unaccompanied asylum-seeking child who has perhaps been out of any home or family environment for years—might be in semi-supported accommodation. It is important that there are national standards that Ofsted will inspect against for that type of provision.

Family Policy

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Monday 19th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is correct: what has now been renamed the Supporting Families programme has been successful at supporting families with some of the most complex needs. It has shown that they can avoid the need for further statutory services and for some of their children to go into care or the criminal justice system, as a result. There are various cross-government issues which are dealt with and led partly by the Secretary of State for Education, such as the care leavers board, which he chairs jointly with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I refer to my interests in the register. Given that the adversarial nature of the family law courts is unhelpful in many cases, and that separating couples often need much earlier help addressing emotional distress and practical issues to encourage effective co-parenting after separation, as well as ensuring that children’s needs remain centre stage, could the Minister say what steps the Government are taking to ensure a closer link with, and easier access to, relationship support in the family justice system?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, as I have outlined, the family justice system currently has a review into these matters, looking at a potentially more investigative approach to family justice. We also hope that the family hubs will give local authorities the option to bring together not just statutory services but the charitable and voluntary sector, which often provides support in the circumstances that the noble Baroness outlines.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Monday 16th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, as I outlined, the UK Government take seriously the input from the United Nations. Children’s rights impact assessments have been devised in accordance with the recommendation in 2016 and are valuable in enabling civil servants—who have also undergone training—to consider children’s rights in policy and legislation. So the recommendation has been enacted, but it will not be put on a statutory basis. We have taken other measures that were advised, such as updating in 2018 the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the Civil Service training on children’s rights that was introduced in England in 2018, to which the Minister has just alluded, was a welcome step but was not mandatory. Can she say how many civil servants have now completed the training and whether it is available in all departments, and is the Department for Education actively monitoring the take-up of the training and its effectiveness?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the training was one of the recommendations from 2016. I will have to write to the noble Baroness on her specific questions.

Covid-19: Social Mobility

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Tuesday 21st July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, we know that the early years are a crucial stage for social mobility, with the poorest children already 11 months behind their better-off peers when they start school. Recent work by the Sutton Trust on the impact of Covid has shown that one-third of early years providers in the most disadvantaged areas may have to close within a year, and that almost 70% of settings anticipate operating at a loss over the next six months. Given this, will the Minister say what plans the Government have to introduce a package of support for early years providers in the coming months, including an increase to the early years pupil premium for at least the next year?

[Baroness Berridge]

My Lords, the education sector is made up of a number of different types of providers, and early years providers are businesses, except for the maintained nursery sector. I am delighted to tell the noble Baroness that, yesterday evening, the Government announced that the early years entitlement of £3.6 billion a year will be paid in the autumn term, regardless of the number of disadvantaged 2 year-olds, or 3 and 4 year-olds, who are attending. That is a massive plank of financial support for the sector going forward in what are, unfortunately, uncertain times.

Schools: Online Support for Pupils

Debate between Baroness Berridge and Baroness Tyler of Enfield

Thursday 18th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge [V]]

My Lords, as I have outlined, there will be a plan before the end of term in relation to curriculum expectations going forward. The Government have made available free expert help and have had over 2,000 applications offering free expert help to make Google Classroom or Microsoft Education available to schools. The department has brokered deals with internet providers and has a specific arrangement with BT such that 10,000 children can have access to BT wi-fi hotspots. The department is incredibly concerned and we are working as best as we can within the scientific advice. We want to see all children back in school in September, subject to that scientific advice.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

It has been exposed that at least 700,000 disadvantaged children do not have proper access to computers or the internet access needed to study online at home. While it is good news that BT is offering free internet access for six months, the scheme will reach only about 10,000 families and, crucially, will not help those without devices. Does the Minister agree that we have a moral obligation to ensure that all these disadvantaged children have access to the internet at home, including devices? What further steps will the Government take to tackle this growing social inequity?

[Baroness Berridge [V]]

My Lords, the Government have also made available school-to-school support through the EdTech innovation programme to help schools that are not necessarily on those platforms. As of 14 June, more than 114,000 devices have been delivered to local authorities and trusts to be distributed to vulnerable children, including care leavers. The Government are concerned, particularly about disadvantaged children, and we are looking at, potentially, a targeted online national tutoring service.