Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of forensic beds available for people with severe mental health conditions held in police custody.

As mentioned in Professor Sir Simon Wessely’s review of the Mental Health Act, the Home Office is aware that some individuals who require detention under the Mental Health Act for in-patient assessment or treatment are left for extended periods in police custody pending identification of a suitable bed. The Home Office is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that local Clinical Commissioning Groups fulfil their respon-sibilities to put arrangements in place for the reception of patients in cases of special urgency