Oral Answers to Questions

Paula Sherriff Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As my hon. Friend will know, it is not normally the case that any request to a civil servant to appear before a Committee is automatically accepted; decisions are taken about the levels at which civil servants should appear before Committees. As he said, he has had a number of my right hon. Friends appear before his Committee—I remember, I am not sure I can say with fond memory, the time when I appeared before the European Scrutiny Committee when I was Home Secretary—but I will certainly look at the request that he has made.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

Q11. The interim report of the Mental Health Act review stated that BAME men and women are more likely to come into contact with mental health services through the police, to be admitted to secure hospitals and to have poorer mental health outcomes over time. The Prime Minister has talked about ending the burning injustice of mental ill health, so why have her Government still not appointed an equalities champion to tackle these inequalities, nearly two years after that was recommended by the “Five Year Forward View for Mental Health”?

[The Prime Minister]

It was precisely to identify this sort of disparity in public services that I launched the race disparity audit when I became Prime Minister. In some areas that does make for uncomfortable reading for our society, but it is absolutely right that we have done it and it is absolutely right that we then address the issues that it has raised.

The hon. Lady talks about the interaction of people with mental health problems and the police. This is not something that I waited to do something about until the race disparity audit; I did something about it when I was Home Secretary. We have significantly reduced the number of people with mental health problems who are being taken to a cell in a police station as a place of refuge, and we have ensured that there is health support available for the police. As a result, people who are in a mental health crisis are getting better treatment than they did previously. There is more to do, but we have already started to take action.