Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Mental Health Bill will improve mental wellbeing in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency, (b) Kidsgrove and (c) other areas with high rates of socioeconomic deprivation.

The Mental Health Bill announced in the King’s Speech will deliver the Government’s commitment to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983, so that it is fit for the modern world. The bill will amend the act, which applies to England and Wales, and sets out the legal rights that apply to people with a mental disorder. This bill does not apply to general mental health services to help individuals with their mental wellbeing. Under this law, a person can be admitted, detained, and treated in hospital for a mental disorder without their consent, if they are a posing a risk to themselves or others.

More broadly, the NHS Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for providing health and care services to meet the needs of the people of the Stoke on Trent constituency and Kidsgrove, taking into account local considerations. The NHS Mental Health Dashboard shows how National Health Service mental health services are performing, broken down to ICB level, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-five-year-forward-view-dashboard/