Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality of independent reviews of seclusion and long-term segregation under the Mental Health Act Code of Practice.

The current Code of Practice requires that a series of reviews are undertaken when a patient is placed in seclusion or segregation, of which some must be independent. We are currently in the process of reforming the Mental Health Act and will revise its Code of Practice accordingly. As part of this, we will review this chapter of the code to ensure that it reflects best practice, including for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

The draft Mental Health Bill was published in June 2022 and is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee. The Committee published its recommendations on 19 January 2023 and we will introduce the Bill when parliamentary time allows.