Campaigning for fairer legislation

We speak out when we think that legislation is going to have a harmful effect on people with mental health problems. With your help, we try to encourage MPs and Peers to amend the legislation, or to vote against it entirely.

Draft Care and Support Bill 2012/13

The Government has been consulting on draft social care legislation and is expected to introduce the Care and Support Bill to Parliament in May 2013.

Mind wants to ensure that social care services are more readily available for people with mild or moderate mental health problems, as well as for people with more severe needs. We're also calling for better access to advocates and are campaigning against restriction of after-care services for people who are returning to the community after being 'sectioned' under the Mental Health Act.

Read our briefing on after-care services.

Mental Health Discrimination Act 2013

On 28 February 2013, the Mental Health (Discrimination) Act 2013 became law!

The Act removes the last significant forms of discrimination in law from our society.Thank you to all our campaigners, members and supporters who emailed and wrote to their MP to raise their awareness and make positive change happen.

To celebrate, we’ve got a thank you present waiting for you.

Please do share this your friends.

Health and Social Care Act 2012

Mind successfully campaigned for two important changes to the Health and Social Care Act in 2011/12.

Working with other mental health charities, we persuaded Peers to vote for an amendment which makes clear that mental health is just as important as physical health. The amendment has become known as the 'parity of esteem' amendment. We also persuaded the Government to protect vital 'after-care' services for people returning to the community after a stay in psychiatric care, under the Mental Health Act.

Many of you wrote to your MP and to Peers to express your support for the amendments. Thanks to you, we were successful.

Welfare Reform Act 2012

Mind worked hard to secure important changes to the Welfare Reform Act, working with other mental health charities and as part of a coalition of over 50 charities called the Disability Benefits Consortium.

Although we still have fundamental concerns about many parts of the Welfare Reform Bill, with your help we were able to persuade the Government that:

• It was wrong to demand that people need to be ill for six months before they can apply for Personal Independence Payments. We persuaded the Government to reduce the time to three months instead.
• Employment officers must consider a person’s mental health when deciding whether or not to penalise them for not meeting a work-related requirement
• It should not remove the mobility element of Personal Independence Payments from people living in state-funded residential care, since this allows people to travel, visit friends and family and go to appointments.
• An independent review of Personal Independence Payments should be carried out after two years.

Hundreds of you wrote to MPs and Peers, tweeted and took part in rallies up and down the country. Thank you for your hard work.

If you want to know more or get involved in our camapign work, sign up to our e-news or become a member.