During the King’s Speech this morning, King Charles III confirmed that the government plans to reform and modernise the Mental Health Act so that it is “fit for the 21st century”.
Campaigners have long been calling for mental health laws to be changed, particularly the clause which states people can be detained if they are at risk of harming themselves or others due to a “mental disorder”. This term is currently defined to include learning disability and autism, even though these are not mental health conditions.
In 2022, the previous Conservative government introduced a draft Mental Health Bill which proposed to remove autism and learning disability as criteria for mental health detentions, but the Bill was never passed.
Before the General Election, Sir Keir Starmer said he would bring these reforms forward if he were to be elected, but until now, there was uncertainty over whether he would fulfil this pledge.
The learning disability charity Mencap says the government’s commitment to modernise the Mental Health Act “marks an important step forward in ending the scandal whereby people with a learning disability and autistic people can be sectioned under the Mental Health Act and detained in a mental health hospital for years on end.”
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive at Mencap, said: “We hear devastating stories of people experiencing abuse and neglect in these settings. People suffering broken bones, being overmedicated and in some cases kept in a straitjacket for up to 12 hours a day. There is often high use of restrictive interventions, such as physical restraint or being kept in isolation, which can cause long-term trauma.
“We can’t turn back time, but we can change what the future looks like for people stuck in this living nightmare with a new Mental Health Bill, investing in social care and delivering the right community support and suitable housing, to give people the quality of life they deserve.”
The National Autistic Society has welcomed the announcement after nearly 20,000 people joined their campaign to call for ‘long overdue change’ to mental health laws. However, the charity warns that the Bill must strengthened before it is passed into law.
Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Campaigns at NAS, said: “Since 2015, there has been a 116% rise in the number of autistic people without a learning disability being locked up in mental health hospitals. Alongside legislative reform, we need urgent investment in high quality and accessible community support for autistic people to end this crisis.”
NAS would also like to see the new government invest in autism training for teachers so they can provide support to autistic pupils at school.
Merritt said: “The Government plans for education are also welcome. An increased focus on recruitment of teachers is needed, but with only 26% of autistic pupils who say they feel happy at school, all school staff need specific training on autism to fully meet the needs of autistic children who are being let down by insufficient support.”
However, learning disability charity Hft says the fact that adult social care was not mentioned during the King’s Speech will be “devastating to the entire sector”.
Steve Veevers, CEO of the charity, said: “Social care providers need the security of a long-term funding settlement in local government. This means ringfenced funding for Local Authorities that enables them to pay the real cost of care, including a worthwhile wage for the workforce which reflects the value and importance of their work.
“A lasting solution will mean resisting the temptation to offer quick fixes or exploiting the issue for short-term NHS gains, which win headlines,” he adds. “The formation of a Royal Commission or Social Care Taskforce, with experts from all sectors of Adult Social Care, to enact long-term reform, is much needed. The longer the grasping of nettle takes, the more precarious the situation becomes.”
