Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) adults, and (2) children were sectioned under the Mental Health Act in England in each of the last two years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of detentions under the Mental Health Act in England, which may include repeat detentions of the same individual:
Year | 18 years old and over | 17 years old and under |
2024/25 | 49,120 | 890 |
2023/24 | 49,471 | 963 |
Source: NHS England’s 20245/25 Mental Health Act Statistics.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) sentenced prisoners, and (2) remand prisoners, have been diagnosed with a (a) mental health condition, and (b) neurodivergent condition.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish an integrated workforce plan for health and social care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 29 July, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care set out the Government’s plans to fix the social care system, so that it gives people dignity, security and support when they need it most. This includes integrating the social care workforce with the National Health Service workforce, creating routes for progression, better pay, training and job security.
We will provide an update on the 10 Year Workforce Plan in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Psychiatric Intensive Care Units there were in every region of the country in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally by NHS England.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) high, (2) medium, and (3) low, secure beds in mental health units were available in every region of England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England holds centrally validated information on the number of secure beds in each region.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 25 February (HL14473), when they expect the co-produced action and implementation plan to be published.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has no plans at present to publish the action plan. The action plan is a partnership with HM Prison and Probation Service and other Government departments, and NHS England has a governance route through which it holds itself accountable.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish an action and implementation plan to ensure the recommendations of the report by the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody Investigating deaths under the Mental Health Act: The need for independence and parity, published in September 2025, are quickly progressed.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is very grateful to the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody for its report, which highlights the critical issue that there are still too many deaths in mental health services and provides valuable insights and recommendations for change.
The Government is currently considering the report and its recommendation to establish an independent investigative mechanism. We will consider the most suitable way to share the Government’s response to this report in due course and will continue to work with the panel to explore how we can deliver further improvements to the way deaths in mental health detention are investigated.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations of the report by the Chief Medical Officer for England, The health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure NHS estate in England, published on 6 November 2025.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomed the Chief Medical Officer’s report and is working across NHS England, HM Prison and Probation Service, and other Government departments on the implementation of its recommendations and the co-production of an action and implementation plan.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times, and in which NHS regions of England, the outcome of commissioned health and justice service contracts have been referred to the Independent Patient and Procurement Panel in each of the past two years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The panel has received two representations regarding Health and Justice services. The panel accepted one case for review and did not review the other case. The case that the panel accepted was in the North West of England.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 30 January (HL13777), when they will publish the results of the consultation on proposals to extend the medicines responsibilities of four professions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The consultation for proposals to extend medicines responsibilities for paramedics, physiotherapists, operating department practitioners, and diagnostic radiographers closed on 28 October 2025. Our team is currently analysing the large number of respondents received and a Government response detailing next steps will be published in due course.
Non-medical prescribing remains a keen area of interest since the Government took office in 2024, and we support the expansion of professional groups being able to use legal mechanisms to supply, administer, and prescribe medicines to patients, where it is safe to do so, within their scope of practice.