§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will promote consultations between the Department of the Environment, the Home Office, the Department of Health and the Treasury to consider the respective roles of special rehabilitation hostels, hospitals and permanent accommodation in housing the homeless mentally-ill, and to ensure prisons are not used to house people with mental health problems for whom such accommodation would be unsuitable.
§ Baroness CumberlegeThe Government's aim is to ensure that there is no necessity for people to sleep rough. A ministerial group, involving all interested departments, has been set up to ensure that the Government play their full part in securing this aim. The
58WADepartment of Health has already funded the London-based homeless mentally ill initiative, which has so far cost over £20 million and which in addition to providing multi-disciplinary psychiatric outreach teams has also provided specialist rehabilitation hostels as well as more permanent accommodation. We have organised jointly with the Department of the Environment a series of conferences for health and services purchasers and providers on the subject of housing and community care with a particular emphasis on the needs of the mentally ill. These conferences were all addressed by Ministers from one or other department.
It is well-established government policy that offenders, or alleged offenders, who have mental disorders requiring in-patient treatment should receive care from health and social services rather than in the criminal justice system. In 1990 just over 300 people were transferred to hospital from prison under the terms of the Mental Health Act 1983. In 1993 that number had increased to 776; provisional figures indicate that there were nearly 800 transfers in 1994.
Ministers and officials in the department work closely with their counterparts in the Home Department on the development of policy for mentally disordered offenders.