Oral Answers to Questions

Olivia Blake Excerpts

Tuesday 5th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Olivia Blake (Sheffield, Hallam) (Lab)]

13. When she plans to respond to the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill’s report entitled “Draft Mental Health Bill 2022”, published on 19 January 2023.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

I put on record my thanks to the members of the pre-legislative scrutiny Committee, which scrutinised our draft Mental Health Bill. We are looking at the recommendations and will respond to the Committee’s report shortly.

[Olivia Blake]

It is now over a year since the Joint Committee report on the draft Mental Health Bill was published. Despite repeated promises of reform, the Government have failed to act. More than 50,000 people are held under the Mental Health Act 1983. It is an outrage to them and to campaigners that reform has been de-prioritised. Will the Minister confirm when the Government plan to bring a formal Bill to Parliament and what conversations they have had with the Chancellor in the run-up to the Budget to ensure the reforms are properly resourced?

[Maria Caulfield]

As I have said, we have published our draft Bill, it has undergone pre-legislative scrutiny and I shall respond to the Committee’s recommendations shortly, but this is not just about legislative reform. As a result of the £143 million that we have invested in crisis support, we have already seen less use of the Mental Health Act 1983 because people are being seen earlier: our crisis cafés and crisis telephone services, for example, have led to a 15% reduction in the use of the Act.