Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism have the right care and support available and in place to prevent the need for hospital admissions.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to an extra £4.5 billion a year for primary care and community health services by 2023/24 to enable more people to receive personalised care in the community and reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. This will include developing seven-day specialist multidisciplinary services and crisis care.

In the Reforming the Mental Health Act white paper, published in January 2021, we propose reducing the number of circumstances in which someone with a learning disability or an autistic person could be detained under the Act. We also propose creating new duties on commissioners to ensure that there are sufficient community-based services to support people with a learning disability and autistic people.