Speeches by Kinnock.

“I can absolutely confirm that the Government’s understanding of the way in which the system must function is that, if any risk at all to public safety is perceived, that must be documented. The risk to others and self must be assessed and documented, and that then informs the care and treatment plan. It is a basic expe…”

“May I say what a pleasure it is to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock? I found her contribution incredibly insightful. She is a tremendous asset to the Committee and indeed to the parliamentary Labour party, we are fortunate to have her with us on the Committee. The Opposition spokesman mentioned a number of…”

“Clause 11 will introduce a new clinical checklist that the patient’s responsible clinician must follow when making decisions about a patient’s treatment. This seeks to put the patient at the heart of clinical decision making. Specifically, the checklist will require that the clinician supports the patient to engage in …”

“I thank the Opposition spokesman. The role and nomination of the responsible clinician are well established and represent current practice, and the clause seeks merely to clarify the current position in legislation in order to avoid confusion regarding the roles of the existing responsible clinician and the community c…”

“Under clause 10, a responsible clinician is an “approved clinician”, which refers to a mental health professional, usually a consultant psychiatrist, who is approved by or on behalf of the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Mental Health Act and has statutory roles and responsibilities. The responsible clinicia…”

“In many ways, that is a question for clinicians, because they always have to make judgments in individual cases. In tragic cases such as eating disorders, at times it gets to the point where a person cannot be saved. If a patient is refusing to eat, it is notoriously challenging for clinicians to try to get that positi…”

“I was intending to come to the questions that the hon. Gentleman and others asked, but as he has asked that now, I can tell him that the revised detention criteria and definition of appropriate medical treatment do not exclude patients with uncertain treatment outcomes, as long as they have a psychiatric disorder. Trea…”

“The numbers that I gave the hon. Gentleman earlier were things that had happened, rather than gazing into the future and reading the tea leaves, but I will do as he asks, and I will ask officials to take him up on the point about the capacity of the legal and judicial system, in particular the tribunals. On the questio…”

“I will start by commenting on amendment 12, which was tabled by the hon. Member for Winchester. We do not consider the amendment necessary, as section 13(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 already requires an “approved mental health professional” to consider all the “circumstances of the case” before making an applicatio…”

“It is a little bit dangerous for us to get into a numbers game, because I do not think it is particularly useful or productive to say, “As a result of the changes that we are making, we think it will decrease by x number or increase by y number”, because, by definition, we do not have a crystal ball and we cannot be su…”

“Clause 7 will amend the grounds for discharge by the tribunal to align with the revised grounds for detention set out in clause 5. The tribunal must consider whether the patient continues to meet the criteria when deciding whether to discharge a patient. These changes will provide decision-makers with a clear and consi…”

“The red thread that goes through all those questions, from both my hon. Friend and the Opposition spokesman, is very much about how we are going to build a clear and strong understanding of what good community support looks like, and then build towards it so that we achieve the aims that we set out for ourselves. In ma…”

“I think the short answer to my hon. Friend’s question is yes. The written ministerial statement will be an update on the work done over the preceding 12 months, but it absolutely will also be a forward plan, so it will set out the next actions that the Government will take, what the broader, long-term change delivery p…”

“I am conscious that we will be voting imminently, so I will try to rattle through. Going back to my phrase “the red thread”, the thread running through all the shadow Minister’s questions is delivery. The proof of the pudding in all legislation is whether we convert it into action in a way that best delivers for the in…”

“The Health and Social Care Act 2008, as amended by the Health and Care Act 2022, already requires that all CQC-registered health and adult social care providers ensure that their staff receive specific training, appropriate to their role, on learning disability and autism. The associated code of practice has been consu…”

“I do not know whether I will be able to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question in its entirety, because quite a lot of that is being led by my colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government—in the English devolution Bill, for example. On the part of his question relating to the Department of Heal…”

“I just need to turn to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley. On strong duties, the code of practice flows from the primary legislation and therefore has a statutory power. There is no stronger power to ensure that people with learning disabilities and autism get the treatment, service and support…”

“The devolution Bill and the process of reorganising and restructuring are based on two really strong principles: that it is up to us through legislation to create the outcomes that we need to see delivered across the country and that there are clear standards and targets that we need to see met. But the implementation …”

“It is absolutely a team effort. Sadly, when people have severe and acute mental health disorders, a multi-agency effort is often required to support them and to help them to get the treatment they need. The process should not be about trying to isolate people. We are keen to ensure that people stay in mainstream societ…”

“I can give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. We are moving to a nuanced position that is about defining where there are co-occurring conditions and where there are not. I think everybody recognises that that is, by definition, a complex process, so the training and the code of practice that go around it will be vital.”