I thank noble Lords for this important debate. As the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, explained, these amendments seek to
restrict, in different ways, the premises that can be used as a place of safety for persons detained under Section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Of course it is important that people detained at a time of crisis be taken to the most appropriate place of safety for their medical needs. That principle is behind these amendments and also represents the Government’s position. Where we differ is on how this should be achieved in terms of the full range of options that should be available to professionals. Amendments 189 and 190 to Clause 79 would completely prohibit the use of police stations as places of safety. The Bill provides that police stations cannot be used as places of safety in the case of children or young people aged under 18. The issue for the Committee is whether this prohibition would also apply to adults.
The noble Baroness and other noble Lords who have spoken are concerned that a police station should never be an appropriate place for a person of any age to be taken at a time of such distress. The Government accept that police stations have been used to detain people under Section 136 far too often. Although much progress has certainly been made to address this, including a 54% reduction between 2014-15 and 2015-16, there is no doubt that police cells are still used inappropriately in some areas.
This will be addressed through regulations governing the circumstances in which a police station can be used for an adult. We have heard from experts that there are occasions when the behaviour of adult detainees can be too violent to be safely managed in a health setting. I expect the regulations to also set out the expected standards of care to be provided to any adult taken to a police station. These decisions will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but I stress that the emphasis is on the exceptional nature of such situations, with health-based places of safety used for the vast majority of cases. The Government have engaged experts and other interested parties in the development of those regulations. I expect to be in a position to say more about our approach ahead of Report.
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The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, mentioned the £15 million going only to the NHS, but many of the bids were written in partnerships involving the NHS, social care, local authorities, the police and others through local concordat partnerships.
The noble Lord, Lord Bradley, gave a very interesting speech and brought up a lot of the areas that are so important. He mentioned best practice going on around the country, but as he said, it is still patchy. I will share a brief example that shows how this can be done, rather like in places he mentioned in the West Midlands. In West Sussex, before 2015-16 Sussex Police had repeatedly used police stations as a place of safety to detain Section 136 detainees—more than any other force. However, it has now managed to reduce that by 80% by bringing in a lot of the interventions that the noble Lord spoke about, such as street triage schemes; three crisis care concordat partnerships involving East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove; and new health-based places of safety, using local funding and the Department of Health £15 million fund. That shows
how these things can be done, but it is important that all authorities get together to discuss the ways changes can be made.
The noble Lord also talked about a national review. I am not sure that that would be the best way forward, but local areas should be amassing local reviews of what they are doing. The Care Quality Commission is a good starting point for that. We feel it could be better for local authorities to gather together what is going on. That is possibly the way forward.
Amendment 191 separately seeks to prohibit use of a detainee’s private home as a place of safety. I put it to the Committee that, on occasions, a private home is likely to be the most appropriate place to take or, indeed, keep a person detained under Sections 135 or 136, rather than taking the detainee to a health-based or other place of safety. This might be particularly applicable, for example, in the case of a young or elderly person, and where familiarity with surroundings and family support may make a significant difference to their emotional well-being at a time of crisis.
The Bill provides robust safeguards to ensure that a person’s home is used as a place of safety only where appropriate. Importantly, the consent of the detainee and any other occupants of that dwelling would be required in every case. It is critical that health and policing professionals decide to use the private home only because it is in the best interests of the detainee. I believe they are well-equipped to make the judgment, but I can reassure the Committee that this will be reinforced in guidance.
We can all agree that the best interests of detainees and the safety of the public must be paramount. I believe that the provisions in the Bill best achieve this outcome. Accordingly, I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.