Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale is for his Department to respond to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.

The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act will report before the end of the year. The Government will consider its findings and respond in due course. The Review will make recommendations to Government for how it should improve the Act, including considering what changes might be needed to reduce the number of detentions under the Act, but the Review itself was not commissioned to have a direct influence on legislation or practice.

We have therefore made no assessment on the effect of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act on the rate of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983.