PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
INTERIM REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE MENTAL HEALTH ACT (7 May 2018)

That this House welcomes the publication of the interim report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act; notes with concern that there are over 45,000 detentions under the Mental Health Act every year, that detentions rose 47 per cent in the decade to 2015-16 and that Black African and Black Caribbean people are disproportionately affected; further notes with concern that research conducted by Rethink Mental Illness for the Mental Health Alliance, which found that 61 per cent of previously detained people and 41 per cent of professionals involved in treating them, felt that people are not currently treated with dignity when detained under the Act; agrees with the chair and vice chairs of the independent review that those with the most severe forms of mental illness have the greatest needs and continue to be the most neglected and discriminated against and are most likely to be subject to the influence and powers of the Mental Health Act; believes that improving how people with severe mental illness are treated when they are at their most vulnerable must be a priority; and calls on the Government to reform the Mental Health Act and related practice during this Parliament with the aim of improving the experience of people detained under the Mental Health Act and those close to them.

Sponsored by:
Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat)