Autism and Learning Disability: Mental Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce barriers to good care for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability in long-term segregation.
Answered by Department of Health and Social Care
We are committed to ensuring that people with a learning disability and autistic people receive high-quality, person-centred care and support in the least restrictive setting possible, including reducing the use of long-term segregation in mental health inpatient settings. To support this, the Care Quality Commission is delivering Independent Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (IC(E)TRs). IC(E)TRs are intended to improve the treatment of people with a learning disability or autistic people in long-term segregation and reduce the use of long-term segregation nationally.
As part of implementing the changes to the Mental Health Act 2025, we are publishing a revised Code of Practice which will provide updated guidance on long-term segregation. In the process of drafting this, we will engage with people with lived experience and their families and carers, staff and professional groups, commissioners, and providers. We will run a public consultation to ensure the code is as useful as possible.
In October 2025, NHS England also published the Identifying Restrictive Practice resource for integrated care boards and National Health Service organisations, which supports the reduction of the use of restrictive practices, including long-term segregation. The Identifying Restrictive Practice resource is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/identifying-restrictive-practice/
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