Mental Health Act Annual Report

Care Quality Commission (2013). Monitoring the mental health act in 2011/12.
This report provides detailed information on the application of the Mental Health Act in England and the Commission worked with health professionals and patients detained under the Mental Health Act in gathering their evidence. The key findings include:

• the number of people detained is rising
• services are under pressure
• most of the concerns from their previous report remain valid e.g. little evidence of consent to treatment, or patients being fully informed
• cultures of control and containment continue to dominate over concerns for treatment and support for individuals

The Commission make a number of recommendations to policy makers, mental health trusts and NHS stakeholders.

Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people

The publication of the Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People, on 30.1.13, provided a damning account of the treatment of asylum seeking families. 

"We believe that successive governments have failed children by delivering an 

asylum support system that keeps children in poverty, leads to dependency on 

the state and denies asylum seeking families the resources they need to meet 

their needs. Not only must the levels of support be increased to make sure no 

child is condemned to poverty, but many other aspects of the asylum support 

system which prevent children and families from having a dignified existence 

need to be addressed. We hope that the government will consider our report and 

recommendations." (Children's Society).