Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of how effectively her Department's agencies, the police and the NHS work together to support victims, patients and families with mental health issues.

The Government has worked with the police and their partners to improve the support to people with mental health needs.

Latest figures on the use of section 136 of the Mental Health Act indicate that police stations were used as a place of safety on 2,100 occasions in 2015/16, a 54% reduction on the previous year, and the Government has also allocated up to £30m in funding to local areas to improve places of safety provision and ensure that people in mental health crisis are not detained in police stations.

Liaison and Diversion (L&D) schemes have been rolled out in police custody suites and courts to ensure that those coming into contact with the criminal justice system who have mental health issues are identified and referred to appropriate assessment and support services. Such schemes currently cover over 68% of the population of England and are expected to reach 82% by April 2018. Street triage schemes, which involve collaborative working and information exchange between police officers and mental health professionals, are operating in over 30 forces. These have been found to provide a more appropriate response to those in mental health crisis.

Home Office and Department of Health Ministers chair the National Steering Group on the Crisis Care Concordat, comprising a wide range of national organisations and service users. This monitors work undertaken across the country by local Crisis Care Concordat Partnerships in responding to those in mental health crisis.

However, there remains more to do and the Government announced on 4 October an independent review of the Mental Health Act to ensure that people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need when they need it. people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need, when they need it. people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need, when they need it. people with mental health problems receive the treatment and support they need, when they need it.