Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the use of (a) restrictive interventions and (b) seclusion on people with learning disabilities in settings that provide (i) inpatient and (ii) residential care.

The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018, will increase the oversight and management of the use of force or restraint in mental health units so that force is only ever used as a last resort. We are committed to publishing the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 draft statutory guidance for public consultation by late spring 2021 and we will set out a full timetable for commencing the Act at the earliest opportunity.

As part of our joint arm’s length bodies’ programme on Reducing Use of Restraint and Restrictive Practices, a set of standards and an accreditation scheme for training providers has been developed to provide assurances that staff in mental health services and social care services are adequately trained in safe and appropriate use of restraint. Since April 2021, all services across health and social care have been expected to use training in restrictive practices that is certified as complying with the Restraint Reduction Network Standards. These standards apply across child and adult services, including for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is also leading a new programme of work to transform the way they regulate services for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The CQC set out their expectations for providers in their policy Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as well as in their updated guidance, which gives inspectors further support to identify warning signs of a closed culture in services.