NHS Confederation statement on government response to the Joint Committee on the draft Mental Health Bill

Responding to the Government's response to the Joint Committee on the draft Mental Health Bill, Sean Duggan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network, said:

“We welcome the government responding to the Joint Committee and hope this provides some momentum towards passing these vital reforms to the Mental Health Act (MHA) that our members and the sector have been calling for it.

“We were disappointed that the government did not include MHA reforms in the last King’s Speech and it is frustrating that they still have not said when the Bill will be brought forward. Reforming the Mental Health Act is widely recognised as being crucial to helping to move more support into the community and one of the five priority areas our members want the next government to focus on.

“Detentions under the current 40-year-old Act require expensive inpatient treatment, and are increasing every year. The review of the Act was completed five years ago, a draft Bill was published in 2022 and pre-legislative scrutiny has been completed. The Bill is ready to go, and we are urging whoever is elected next to commit to bringing forward the new Mental Health Bill.

“But we also particularly welcome the government saying that a delivery plan for building up community support for people with learning disabilities and autism will be published alongside the Bill when it enters parliament, as this is an important part of the success of the reforms. We look forward to working with DHSC as the Bill develops, feeding in our members' views.”