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 help expand entitlement to independent mental health advocacy to voluntary or informal patients as part of his reforms of the Mental Health Act.

The white paper ‘Reforming the Mental Health Act’, published in January 2021, set out proposals to expand access to an advocate to voluntary or informal patients and to consider an ‘opt out model’. These proposals received significant support at public consultation and we are now exploring the associated costs and practicalities. This includes examining current independent mental health advocate uptake and existing opt out models which have been successfully implemented in some areas.