Our work in parliament

We support MPs and peers to play their role in making sure everyone with a mental health problem is treated fairly, positively and with respect.

Do you want to get in touch with Mind’s Public Affairs team? Email us on [email protected]

How we support MPs and peers

Mind’s Policy and Campaigns team works with MPs and members of the House of Lords from all political parties. We talk to them about the issues that affect people with mental health problems.

We write simple guides on many topics. These include:

• Young people’s mental health
• Making the benefits system work better for people with mental health problems
• Changing the Mental Health Act

We can help with:

• Short briefings, real-life stories, and facts for debates, speeches, or questions in Parliament
• A booklet with tips for MPs and their teams on how to support people in their area
• Visits to local Mind services in your area
• Speaking up in Parliament about your own experience with mental health problems

Our priorities in parliament

Reforming the Mental Health Act

The Mental Health Act is out-of-date and biased. 

It allows people to be taken to hospital and treated without agreeing – this is called being 'sectioned'. This usually happens when someone is very unwell, but they often don’t get a say in what happens.

We’re glad the government plans to give people more control over their care. This includes letting someone choose a trusted person to speak up for them and make some decisions if they can’t.

But the government needs to do more. We want them to look again at how Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) are used. These are rules that make people have treatment while living in the community. CTOs don’t stop people going back into hospital and are used more often on Black people, which is unfair.

A comprehensive ban on conversion ‘therapy’

Conversion practices are harmful and can seriously affect people’s mental health. To keep all LGBTQIA+ people safe, we want a full ban on these practices in the UK. The ban must include trans people.

It must also close current gaps in the law. Right now, the law still:

• Allows adults to agree to go through conversion practices
• Allows these practices to happen in religious or faith-based settings
• Does not stop people from trying to hide or change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity

We believe everyone should be protected from this kind of harm.

Improving benefits assessments 

The benefits system can help people with mental health problems live more independently and have more control over their lives. But right now, the way benefits are assessed is not working for many people.

We need assessors to have better understanding of mental health. People should also be able to choose how their assessment is done – for example, in person, by phone, or online.

We’re asking the Department for Work and Pensions to set up a new group, led by disabled people, to create a better and fairer assessment system.

Introducing early support hubs for young people

1 in 6 young people have a mental health problem. And too often they can’t get support when they first need it. But the earlier a young person gets support for their mental health, the more effective that support will be.

We’re calling on the UK government to fund a network of early support hubs across England. Hubs offer easy to access mental health support to young people who need it. Anyone aged 11-25 will be able to drop into a service in their local area without an appointment or referral.

If you need any further information or would like to meet with Mind, please contact our Public Affairs team on [email protected]