Mental health – Government action

UK Government actions:

• In June 2022, the UK Government published a draft Mental Health Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. This aims to modernise mental health legislation to give patients in England and Wales greater choice and autonomy over their care and treatment, and access to enhanced rights and support under the Mental Health Act.
• In July 2022, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published the Building the Right Support Action Plan to address the number of patients with a learning disability and those with autism who are inappropriately detained in secure mental health hospitals in England.
• In April 2022, the UK Government launched a public consultation on a new mental health and wellbeing plan focused on improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
• In March 2021, in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the UK Government published the COVID-19 mental health and wellbeing recovery plan for England.
• In November 2020, the UK Government announced £500 million in additional funding in 2021/22 to address waiting times for mental health services, provide more people with mental health support and invest in the NHS workforce.
• In January 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan committed to increase investment to improve access to community and crisis mental health services in England, with investment in mental health services to grow faster than the overall NHS budget.
• In January 2019, the DHSC published its first cross-government suicide prevention work plan, following calls from the House of Commons Health Select Committee for a clearer implementation plan for the UK Government suicide prevention strategy for England.
• In January 2019, the Department for Education announced that mental health and wellbeing would be covered as part of the school curriculum in England from September 2020.
• In July 2018, the UK Government confirmed its plans to establish teams to increase universal and early-intervention mental health support in schools and colleges in England.

Welsh Government actions: Mental health is devolved to the Welsh Government.

• The draft Mental Health Bill published by the UK Government will extend to Wales.
• The Welsh Government committed to prioritise investment in mental health in its programme for government for the 2021–2026 parliamentary term. In September 2021, the Welsh Government announced a £2.5 million package of additional funding to reach a range of young people, including those who are harder to reach and those with protected characteristics. This follows £9.4 million pledged in February 2021 for children and young people’s mental health services. Further funding for mental health support staff in schools was announced in March 2022.
• In April 2021, the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 conferred a duty on any education provider exercising functions under the Act to have regard to the mental and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.
• In October 2020, in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Welsh Government set out actions to support mental health needs, with a focus on maintaining services, supporting the NHS and reducing the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. The Welsh Government also updated the Together for Mental Health delivery plan 2019–2022.
• In July 2019, the Welsh Government published a five-year vision for maternity care in Wales. This includes a commitment to ensure high quality universal, enhanced and targeted services, including access to evidence-based psychological therapies.
• The Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 provides for regulations to be made about the use of ‘health impact assessments’ (inclusive of mental health impact) for proposed actions or decisions by public bodies, but that section is not yet in force.