Briefings and responses

A number of health and wellbeing boards are actively prioritising dementia and promoting dementia friendly communities.

From housing to public health, social care, culture and leisure services, councils lead local services that help prevent mental ill health, support early intervention and provide ongoing support.

Suicide prevention is a priority for local government. On average 13 people in England take their lives every day, with three quarters of these suicide victims being male. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 as well as the leading cause of death in young people.

We have been calling for an overhaul of the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) process to ensure there is adequate protection for human rights. The decision to focus on how we best protect people’s liberty is positive and we support it.

Good mental health is essential for a healthy and prosperous society. It is essential to prevent mental health issues arising, intervening early if problems do start surfacing, and helping people manage their lives going forward.

The final legislation needs to highlight the rights of individuals to be consulted in decisions and ensure that they, their families and carers, and the sector as a whole, have the confidence that there will be independent oversight of those decisions when appropriate.

"Increased investment in children and young people’s mental health services is urgently needed. In particular, the Government must ensure all of the promised £1.7 billion for children’s mental health is spent on children’s mental health services, and not diverted elsewhere."

The Bill provides a vital opportunity for long-awaited reform. It is important that this opportunity is not missed and that the Bill is passed as the current situation is not sustainable for councils and our communities.

We welcome the opportunity that the Bill presents to replace a system that is widely agreed not to be fit for purpose.

Good mental health is essential for a healthy and prosperous society. Unfortunately, it is easier to focus on what happens when a person becomes mentally ill, and how the health service intervenes, rather than how to keep our communities mentally well in the first place.