Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Outcome Evaluation of the National Model for Liaison and Diversion, published by RAND Europe in April 2021, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations to (a) increase capacity for onward referrals from Liaison and Diversion services and (b) develop approaches to support people who have multiple vulnerabilities but are not currently eligible for referral because no single vulnerability meets a required therapeutic threshold.

The Departmental funded evaluation of Liaison and Diversion services, published by RAND, found that these services are successfully engaging with a range of service users with diverse and often overlapping vulnerabilities. The evaluation has shown that the Liaison and Diversion model is successful in increasing referrals to mental health and drug and alcohol treatment services and diversion from custodial sentences.  The Department will be working across Government to further analyse the report’s findings and identify opportunities to build on this successful model.

We remain focussed on our NHS Long Term Plan commitments including those to expand access to community mental health services for adults with serious mental illness, including those individuals with the most complex needs. This will help maximise the effectiveness of Liaison and Diversion services by increasing capacity for onward referrals and improving support available for individuals with multiple vulnerabilities.