Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Buckland and Norman Lamb

Tuesday 15th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I caution against sanctimony, because this scandal continued under the last Labour Government, who did nothing to get people out of institutional care. At least this Government are absolutely committed to changing that. What we discovered is that changing the culture is a lot more difficult than I had hoped, but we are absolutely determined to achieve the change, which is so necessary.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

9. What assessment he has made of progress towards achieving parity of esteem for mental health.

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

Our mandate to NHS England requires measurable progress in achieving parity of esteem by March 2015. Parity will involve extending and ensuring better access to talking therapies, in particular for children, young people and those out of work. Progress towards better access to these services has been good.

[Mr Buckland]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. What further measures will be taken to improve access to specialist perinatal mental health services to deal with problems such as post-natal depression, and will we see measurable objectives on that in the NHS mandate?

[Norman Lamb]

We had a very good round table discussion about this with leaders from around the country last week. What emerged is that fantastic progress is being made in many places, but it is not uniform. There needs to be a concerted effort to ensure that mothers get access to the same specialist treatment wherever they live across the country, and we are determined to achieve that.

Adult Autism Strategy

Debate between Robert Buckland and Norman Lamb

Wednesday 5th March 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Buckland]

rose—

[Norman Lamb]

I will give way to both colleagues, but first to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham.

--- Later in debate ---

[Norman Lamb]

I thank my right hon. Friend for accepting my offer, and now give way to my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon.

[Mr Buckland]

I am grateful to the Minister. I will not take up his valuable time, but I want to thank him for the meeting he had on the strategy the other day with me and my hon. Friends the Members for Salisbury (John Glen), and for Cambridge (Dr Huppert). We have already started the work here in Westminster, and I am very grateful to the Minister for agreeing to a further meeting with my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan) to push the agenda forward.

[Norman Lamb]

I acknowledge my hon. Friend’s comments. I share the shadow Minister’s view that this issue is entirely bipartisan. There is a massive need to change and increase society’s understanding of autism. Awful things so often happen through ignorance of autism and the entire spectrum. It is crucial to raise awareness, as several Members have said.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham raised a number of queries about whether the revised strategy would reinforce the points from the original strategy, and I can confirm that it will do so on all the points she mentioned. It must also go further and look into other areas.

My hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon talked a lot about the criminal justice system, and we must look at how we can improve things there. He made the point that someone with Asperger’s is seven times more likely to end up having some contact with the criminal justice system. We have started to roll out the Government’s liaison and diversion service, which I announced back in January. By 2017, we aim to have a nationwide service for people with mental health problems, autism and learning disabilities who end up in the criminal justice system, often inappropriately and unnecessarily. Getting people diverted to diagnosis, which Members have talked about, and to the right treatment can often prevent further offending and potentially thereby transform someone’s life while protecting others.

[Mr Buckland]

I pay tribute to the Minister for the mental health pilot schemes that are being introduced in Wiltshire and other places; they were recommended by the Bradley review some time ago. Does he agree that community psychiatric nurses need training, particularly in cases of comorbid autism and mental health conditions, which are sadly quite common? We must ensure that the pilot covers autism when it comes to the diversion at the police station.

[Norman Lamb]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I wanted also to touch on the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) about the parents of adults with autism who, far too often, are told by clinicians that they cannot talk to them about their adult child’s circumstances. Clinicians often hide behind the absolute importance of confidentiality about a condition in order to refuse to talk at all to the parents—the people who know the individual better than anyone. That is an attitude of mind among too many clinicians. It has to change.

I also wanted to refer to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I think I can call him my hon. Friend. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] Thank you for that. He talked about the pressure on families, and he is absolutely right. Whether one is talking about learning disability, autism or dementia—there are parallels with dementia—the need to raise awareness in society is real. I am also happy to look at the Northern Ireland legislation and at what lessons can be learned throughout the jurisdictions.

Another point in response to the debate was to do with transition. Whether with mental health, learning disability or autism, we so often find that disasters happen at the age of 18. My hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) alluded to that important point. Too often, people are lost to the system. The age of 18 is the worst possible age to withdraw support, whether we are talking about mental health in general or autism in particular.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Buckland and Norman Lamb

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. The National Autistic Society is doing fantastic work, working closely with the Government. It has put this idea forward and we are considering it seriously; it has real merit. We shall announce our decisions when we announce the results of the consultation in March.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

What plans does my hon. Friend have to use the review as an opportunity to bring forward programmes that will increase autism awareness among the general public?

Winterbourne View

Debate between Robert Buckland and Norman Lamb

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

Inspections are essential to ensure that we identify where problems exist. The role of the Care Quality Commission is critical in that respect. We need to do more to open up those establishments to public view. One role that the new local HealthWatch can take is to go into care homes, nursing homes and so on to see for itself. The more there is a culture of openness, the less likely it is that abuse will take place.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

I commend to my hon. Friend the work of organisations such as the Swindon Advocacy Movement, which does so much work not only to advocate for service users, but to train volunteers, so that more adults with learning difficulties can stay in the communities in which they live, work and thrive. In that way, the nightmare scenario of Winterbourne View can be avoided in future.

[Norman Lamb]

I absolutely commend the work of the organisation to which the hon. Gentleman refers and would be interested to hear more about it. The scandal is that so many people over so many years have been put into institutions and ended up there for years when their care would be much more appropriate for their needs if it took place in their communities through supported living or in a care home. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow) mentioned, the extraordinary thing is that we were spending public money—on average, £3,500 per patient in Winterbourne View—to put people at risk of abuse. Often, an appropriate care package costs less than that, and gives the individual the care they need in their own community.