Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the background briefing notes on the Queen's Speech on 19 December 2019, what steps the Government plans to take to deliver the commitment to improve how autistic people and people with learning disabilities are treated in law.

Improving the care and treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities is a priority for this Government.

The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 made a number of recommendations to improve the treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities under the Act.

During 2019, we also received two petitions to change how the Act applied to autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

We will be responding to the Review’s recommendations and to proposals to change the scope of the Act in a white paper early in 2020. We will then consult publicly on our proposals and bring forward a new Mental Health Bill to amend the Act.