Baroness Hollins (CB)

My Lords, I want to acknowledge the extensive discussions about how the Act will apply to people with learning disabilities and autistic people. We know that Clause 3 will not be switched on until sufficient community support is in place. Developing the right community support is key to ensuring that people with learning disabilities and autistic people are supported well in the community and not inappropriately detained. On Report in the other place, Minister Kinnock committed to work with people with lived experience and other stakeholders to set out a road map for change. The excellent House of Lords Select Committee report, Time to Deliver: the Autism Act 2009 and the New Autism Strategy, which was published yesterday, also calls for “a clear timeline and roadmap for strong community services to be put in place, so that provisions in the Mental Health Bill to prevent the unnecessary detention of autistic people and people with a learning disability can be commenced”. When will the Ministers begin meeting people with lived experience and stakeholders to develop the road map? What progress have His Majesty’s Government made in determining what sufficient community support is and how this will be assessed, particularly given that in October there were still more than 2,000 autistic people and people with a learning disability in hospital in England, 92% of them being detained under the Mental Health Act? According to NHS Digital data, only 19% of local areas have achieved the March 2024 target to reduce the number of in-patients. It is worrying. Are ICBs on track to meet the 2026 target of a further 20% reduction?