The Mental Health Bill 2024-25
Read about the impact of our work on the Mental Health Bill that entered Parliament in 2024. We worked with frontline staff and lived experience experts to ensure changes to the law reflected people's real-life experiences.
Amplifying lived experience voices
Parliament heard directly from lived experience experts, with the Joint Committee on Human Rights quoting RITES Committee lived experience experts in their legislative scrutiny report, their letter to the Health Secretary and in the House of Commons.
Shoring up human rights protections
Clause 52 of the Mental Health Bill clarifies that independent care providers have a legal duty to uphold human rights when delivering aftercare under the Mental Health Act; inpatient mental health care arranged or paid for by an NHS body; or Local Authority-arranged community care under the Mental Health Care and Treatment (Scotland) Act.
Bringing together the sector
Frontline workers and civil society groups showed their support for this change through quotes and surveys that fed into a joint briefing shared with MPs, Peers and government departments.
Of care providers surveyed...
100%
supported the idea that the same human rights protections apply to everyone accessing care services, regardless of how it has been arranged/paid
for
100%
said it is confusing for care providers if the people they support have different human rights protections based on how their care has been arranged
Providing accessible information
Over 1,000 people have accessed our human rights explainer on the Mental Health Bill and/or downloaded our Easy Read version, co-produced with Easy Read Champion Lucy from our RITES Committee.
Related information
Our Impact
Read about how our work helps empower, support and upskill people across the UK to speak up for and protect everyone's human rights.
Our Impact
Read about how our work helps empower, support and upskill people across the UK to speak up for and protect everyone's human rights.
The RITES Committee
Our RITES Committee (standing for real-life insights, tips, experiences and stories) is made up of experts by experience who have used our Human Rights Act to achieve change.
The RITES Committee
Our RITES Committee (standing for real-life insights, tips, experiences and stories) is made up of experts by experience who have used our Human Rights Act to achieve change.
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