Mental Health Bill becomes law – CBF statement

Today (18th December 2025), the Mental Health Bill – which makes a range of changes to the Mental Health Act – has become law. 

Under the old version of the Mental Health Act, people with learning disabilities and autistic people could be detained in hospital even if they didn’t have a mental health condition – something that people with lived experience and families have been campaigning against for many years.  

The serious and long-lasting impacts of inappropriate detention on children, young people and adults with severe learning disabilities, and their families, are well-known. When someone with a severe learning disability is inappropriately detained in hospital (in many cases, simply because there is not the support available in the community to meet their needs) they can be restrained, secluded, and segregated – causing physical and mental harm. People with learning disabilities can spend years of their life detained in hospital; the latest statistics show that nearly half (49%) of people with learning disabilities currently in hospital have been in hospital for 5 or more years. During this time, they are away from their homes and the people who love them – families we support have shared the difficulties they face (including travelling long distances and visits being cancelled last-minute) when trying to visit their relative in hospital. 

The Mental Health Bill has now received Royal Assent (meaning that it has been approved to become law). It will mean that someone can only be detained in hospital if they have a mental health condition that needs treatment. The CBF welcomes this change, which is a key first step, and we pay testament to the determined campaigning of family carers, people with learning disabilities and autistic people which has led to this change. 

However, there is still a major piece of work required for this change to become a reality. The Government has said that they will not enact the part of the Mental Health Bill which makes the change to detention criteria for people with learning disabilities and autistic people until they are sure that there is strong community support in place. We fully agree that strong community support is necessary but previous attempts to reform the system have not resulted in the development of sufficient support. There is now an urgent need for a strategic, system-wide, and resourced plan, co-produced with people with lived experience and their families, to develop effective community support. 

During the Report Stage in the House of Commons, Stephen Kinnock (Minister for Social Care) committed on behalf of the Government to engage with people with lived experience, families, and other stakeholders to develop a roadmap for community support. For it to succeed, this roadmap must be developed through a process of meaningful and genuine coproduction – building on what is known about what is needed, what needs to change, and how this can be done. People with lived experience and families have expertise and knowledge of what good community support is and how it can be developed – listening to and learning from them is essential if the support that will enable this long-awaited change in the law is to be put in place. 

Jacqui Shurlock, CEO at The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, said: 

“The changes made by the Mental Health Bill are an important first step towards ensuring that people with a learning disability whose behaviour challenges are not inappropriately detained in inpatient units and their human rights are upheld. The Challenging Behaviour Foundation has supported many families whose relatives’ lives have been devastated by inappropriate detention. To realise the intention behind this law we now need the government to actively prioritise community support. We look forward to taking part in the co-production announced by Minister Kinnock. Co-production with people with lived experience will be crucial to ensuring that the right support is available, in the right place, at the right time.” 

Support from the CBF  – Family Support Service 

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can call the Family Support Service on 0300 666 0126 orr email us at support@thecbf.org.uk 

We are open at the following times: 

• Monday – Thursday: 9am – 5pm
  Friday: 9am – 3pm 

We offer information about challenging behaviour to anyone who provides support to a child, young person or adult with a severe learning disability. We can also signpost you to other specialist organisations and sources of information. 

Please note we are a small support service so you may not be able to get support straight away. We will support families with urgent concerns as a priority. 

Professionals are also welcome to contact the CBF.