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Session 2021-22 Tuesday No. 8 25 May 2021 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS WRITTEN STATEMENTS AND WRITTEN ANSWERS Written Statements ................................ ................ 1 Written Answers ................................ ..................... 4 [I] indicates that the member concerned has a relevant registered interest. The full register of interests can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-interests/register-of-lords-interests/ Members who want a printed copy of Written Answers and Written Statements should notify the Printed Paper Office. This printed edition is a reproduction of the original text of Answers and Statements, which can be found on the internet at http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/. Ministers and others who make Statements or answer Questions are referred to only by name, not their ministerial or other title. The current list of ministerial and other responsibilities is as follows. Minister Responsibilities Baroness Evans of Bowes Park Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal Earl Howe Deputy Leader of the House of Lords Lord Agnew of Oulton Minister of State, Treasury and Cabinet Office Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Lord Ashton of Hyde Chief Whip Baroness Barran Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Lord Benyon Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Baroness Berridge Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Department for International Trade Lord Bethell Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Whip Waldrist Lord Callanan Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Earl of Courtown Deputy Chief Whip Lord Frost Minister of State, Cabinet Office Baroness Goldie Minister of State, Ministry of Defence Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Lord Greenhalgh Minister of State, Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Minister of State, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Department for International Trade Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Whip Baroness Penn Whip Baroness Scott of Bybrook Whip Baroness Stedman-Scott Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions Lord Stewart of Dirleton Advocate-General for Scotland Lord True Minister of State, Cabinet Office Baroness Vere of Norbiton Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport Baroness Williams of Trafford Minister of State, Home Office Lord Wolfson of Tredegar Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice Viscount Younger of Leckie Whip © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2021 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/ Written Statements 25 May 2021 Page 1 Consultation on the Use of Force in Mental Written Statements Health Units Tuesday, 25 May 2021 [HLWS54] Lord Bethell: My Hon. Friend the Minister of State Airport and Ground Operations Support (Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Scheme Mental Health) (Nadine Dorries), has today made the following written ministerial statement: [HLWS51] Today, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Baroness Vere of Norbiton: My Honourable Friend, Government’s consultation on the statutory guidance for the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport (Robert the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018. Courts) has made the following Ministerial Statement: The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018, also I am tabling this statement for the benefit of hon. known as Seni’s Law, was introduced into the House of Members to bring to their attention spend under the Commons by the Honourable Member for Croydon North Industrial Development Act 1982 (“the Act”). in July 2017 and received Royal Assent in November On 24 November the Government announced the 2018. The Act is named after Mr Olaseni Lewis, who died introduction of the Airport and Ground Operators Support as a result of being forcibly restrained whilst he was a Scheme (the Scheme) with the intention of supporting voluntary patient in a mental health unit. airports and ground handlers who have experienced the The purpose of the Act is to clearly set out the measures impact of COVID-19 on their business whilst maintaining which are needed to both prevent the use of force and high levels of fixed costs during the 2020/21 financial then ensure accountability and transparency about the use year. The aim was to open the Scheme in January and of force in mental health units. By promoting good ensure grant payments were made to eligible businesses practice, identifying poor practice, and through a greater by the end of the financial year. Grant payments would be understanding of where there are problems or issues for made using powers in sections 7 and 8 of the Act. specific groups, we can address this nationally as well as Section 8(8) of the Act states that financial assistance locally. The statutory guidance sets out how we expect for any one project shall not exceed £30m, except so far mental health units to meet the requirements of the Act. as such excess has been authorised by a resolution of the This consultation will seek views on the clarity, content House of Commons. The need to act and ensure that and approach of the proposed guidance. support was provided promptly meant that the This is vitally important to minimise restrictive Government were previously unable to seek such interventions in mental health units which affected 12,000 authorisation from the House of Commons. individuals in 2019/20, and disproportionately those with Section 8(9) of the Act provides that the Secretary of protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. State shall lay a statement concerning the financial This is a landmark piece of legislation which enjoys the assistance before each House of Parliament if they are support of patients, people with lived experience, satisfied that the payment or undertaking to pay financial voluntary and charitable sector organisations and the assistance in excess of £30m was urgently needed and it NHS. Today’s launch represents a significant step would have been impracticable to obtain the approval of forward in our efforts to prevent the use of force in mental the Commons House of Parliament by way of a health units which would not have been possible without resolution. the tireless campaigning of the Honourable Member for The need to provide urgent support to airports and Croydon North and the Lewis family. ground handlers who play a vital role in the infrastructure This consultation is part of the Government’s wider of the country made it impracticable to seek authorisation reform agenda to improve support for individuals with by way of a resolution, for payments under the scheme in severe mental illnesses. The Government published its excess of £30m and I am therefore tabling this statement. Mental Health Act White Paper on 13 January 2021 The details of the spend on the Scheme, which opened for which sets out proposals for once in a generation reforms applications at the end of January, are set out below: to the Mental Health Act, responding to and building on Total of Scheme Commercial Ground Sir Simon Wessely’s Review of the Act. We are also Grants Airports Handling working hard to achieve our NHS Long Term plan Operators commitment to give 370,000 adults and older adults with £86,925,171.00 £65,075,462.00 £21,849,709 severe mental illnesses greater choice and control over their care and support them to live well in their The Government remains committed to supporting the communities by 2023/24. sector and has recently announced that the Scheme will be The consultation will conclude on 17th August 2021. renewed for the first six months of the financial year The Government’s intention is to publish the final 2021/22. Consent for the use of powers in sections 7 and statutory guidance and begin commencement of the Act in 8 of the Act for the renewed Scheme will be sought November 2021. separately. Page 2 25 May 2021 Written Statements Covid-19 Health Inequalities: Quarterly impacted frontline healthcare workers, investigating any Report practical barriers to vaccine uptake by ethnicity, and improving the quality of ethnicity data in health records. [HLWS53] My fourth and final report will provide a further update Baroness Berridge: My Hon. Friend the Minister for and will include recommendations on how this work to Equalities (Kemi Badenoch) has made the following address COVID-19 disparities should be taken forward, as statement to the House of Commons: part of our longer-term strategy to tackle health I am publishing today the third of my quarterly reports inequalities. to the Prime Minister on progress to address COVID-19 health disparities among ethnic minority groups. Research Collaboration Advice Team Vaccination offers the clearest path out of the pandemic [HLWS52] and remains the key step in addressing the disparities in risks and outcomes from COVID-19. My report Lord Callanan: My Honourable friend the Minister for summarises the unprecedented programme of measures Science, Research and Innovation (Amanda Solloway) taken to tackle misinformation and to increase both has today made the following statement: vaccine confidence and uptake among ethnic minorities. The Integrated Review sets an ambition for the UK to Over the last quarter the government, together with be a science and technology superpower by 2030. national and local partners, has responded quickly, International research collaboration will be central to effectively and flexibly to drive vaccine uptake. Measures achieving this objective, and our research sector needs to include: be both open and secure.
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