Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion, of disabled people who travelled by train over the past 12 months used assistance (a) with, and (b) without, pre-booking.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

We do not hold data on the number and proportion of disabled people travelling by train over the past year who used assistance, with and without, pre-booking. Official statistics for booked assistance numbers published by the Office of Rail and Road are currently unavailable whilst data quality issues with the supplier are resolved. The Office of Rail and Road aim to publish the latest available full year and historic data for booked assistance in July.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government which organisations the Department of Health and Social Care consulted on the Mental Health Bill and their wider mental health policy.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Mental Health Bill reflects the recommendations of Professor Sir Simon Wessely’s Independent Review into the Mental Health Act of 2018, which engaged widely with a number of organisations. The review’s advisory panel brought together a range of stakeholders to serve as a forum for gathering evidence and insight throughout the course of the review. The membership of the advisory panel comprised of individuals with lived experience, advocacy organisations, professionals and representative bodies, and representatives from the statutory system.

Following this, the Government ran an extensive public consultation on the proposals in the Mental Health Act White Paper, which received more than 1,700 responses. A draft bill was then published in 2022 for pre-legislative scrutiny (PLS), during which a range of stakeholders and organisations representing service users, patients, and professionals provided their views on how the draft bill could be improved.

The Mental Health Bill has been further strengthened through recommendations made by the PLS joint committee. Since July 2024, we have further engaged with range of key stakeholders, and we will continue to engage further, and consult widely, on the development of the Mental Health Act Code of Practice, the statutory guidance which will inform practice under the bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Government response to the Concluding observations on the initial report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in October 2017, what steps they are taking to deinstitutionalise persons with disabilities, and develop community-based independent living schemes, in collaboration with organisations of persons with disabilities.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Through our proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act, we want to ensure people get the support they need in the community, improve care and prevent admission to hospitals. We recognise that strong community support must be in place to improve care and reduce reliance on mental health hospitals for people with a learning disability and autistic people. We will engage with expert stakeholders to inform implementation planning, including in respect of the development of strong community services.

The National Health Service’s 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance sets out the objective of reducing reliance on mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. In 2024/2025, NHS England has allocated £124 million of transformation funding for learning disability and autism services which includes funding to reduce reliance on mental health inpatient settings.

We recognise how important the right housing arrangements are in supporting people to live independently, and the need to support people to live behind their own front door wherever possible. We incentivise the supply of supported housing in England for older people and adults with a physical or learning disability, autistic people, or adults with mental ill-health. The Government will bring forward details of future investment in affordable housing at the multi-year Spending Review next year.

The Government is required to provide an annual update outlining the progress the United Kingdom has made on the Committee’s recommendations following the 2016 inquiry and most recently gave evidence to the Committee at a dialogue in Geneva in March 2024.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable (1) people with learning difficulties, (2) autistic people, including those who are currently on a hospital detention or a community treatment order under the Mental Health Act 1983, (3) individuals with lived experience of hospital detention under the Mental Health Act 1983, and (4) organisations representing those groups, to engage with them on the provisions of the Mental Health Bill.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The reforms delivered by the Mental Health Bill reflect the recommendations made by the Independent Review into the Mental Health Act, which engaged widely with stakeholders, including people with lived experience of a learning disability or autism under the Mental Health Act 1983. There was extensive consultation following this, to develop the draft bill, most notably on the Government’s White Paper, Reforming the Mental Health Act. Since the initial draft bill, we have taken on board several recommendations from the pre-legislative scrutiny committee, which heard from a range of stakeholders and organisations representing service users, patients, and professionals.

Regarding the learning disability and autism specific measures, we recognise that strong community support must be in place to improve care and reduce reliance on mental health hospitals. We will engage with expert stakeholders to inform implementation planning, including in respect of the development of strong community services.

We will engage further with the relevant stakeholders on the development of the Code of Practice, the statutory guidance which informs practice under the Mental Health Bill.

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Found: BARONESS TAYLOR OF BOLTON LORD BASSAM OF BRIGHTON BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON 128_ Clause 16, page

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Found: the future. 3 Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill BARONESS BRINTON BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON

Found: Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill 2 BARONESS BRINTON BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON

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Found: authorities in the future. 59/1 HL Bill 21—R—Running List 30 October BARONESS BRINTON BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON

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Found: Clause 22 BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON 25_ Clause 22, page 26, line 18, leave out “, (4)” Member's

Found: Baroness Grey-Thompson to lead new expert group to 'break down barriers' to air travel for disabled passengers

Found: 2024-01-24 Sir Jeremy Darroch To discuss the BBC Funding Model Review Lucy Frazer 2024-01-29 Baroness Grey-Thompson

Found: Letter dated 26/11/2024 from Baroness Twycross to Baroness Grey-Thompson regarding a question raised

Found: have carefully read Baroness Brinton’s contribution to the debate, and I am also grateful to Baroness Grey-Thompson