Ivan Olbrechts, family and friends Rep Body member, represented Learning Disability England members at a recent Department of Health and Social Care ‘stakeholder event’ about the Mental Health Bill and has written a guest blog about it:

The Mental Health Bill 2025 aims to modernize and improve the 40-year-old Mental Health Act, enhancing patient rights and autonomy, especially for those detained under the Act.

Mental Health Bill Easy-read

Problems with the application of the current Act include:

• The disproportionate use of detention for young black men

• The inappropriate detention of and the delayed discharge of people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

• The availability of good community support for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

• The use of police and prison cells for people experiencing a mental health crisis

Chairing the meeting was  Baroness Merron (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health).

Flanked by Lord Timpson (Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending)

and Stephen Kinnock MP (Minister of State for Care)

Those invited as ‘stakeholders’ in the development of the new Mental Health Bill naturally reflected all the professions who work under the Mental Health Act, including all the health and care professions, police, probation and government, but also present were a tiny number of ‘third sector’ organisations – which include Learning Disability England.

Learning Disability England will continue to follow the passage of the act through Parliament and is keen to ensure member views are well represented.

We are keen to see improved legislation, an end to the inappropriate detention of people with learning disabilities and autistic people and improvements in community services that will provide local alternatives to detention in mental health hospitals.

We were told that even after new legislation, some of the changes would take up to ten years to implement.

So we are keen to see real changes in practice too, including:

• Responsible Clinicians – escalating where discharges are delayed due to a lack of community provision or due to financial impediments.

• Mental Health Tribunals – strictly assessing whether detention is justified on clinical grounds and not contributing to delayed discharge where discharge is hindered due to a lack of community provision or due to financial impediments.

• Care Quality Commission – taking action on hospitals where people are detained without ‘therapeutic benefit’ and where discharges are repeatedly delayed for any reason.

Learning Disability England will be representing members at every stakeholder session with the DHSC, so please get in touch if you wish to have a say on this important piece of legislation.