The Government has ignored pleas that it is Time to Act, but we won’t give up fighting for fair mental health laws for autistic people. 

On 7th November 2023, the Government decided not to proceed with its planned and promised Mental Health Bill. Despite decades of campaigning, and a massive 18,234 of you signing our open letter to Rishi Sunak demanding the outdated Mental Health Act be urgently reformed, it remains legal for autistic people to be detained just because they are autistic.

The Government didn’t mention the Mental Health Bill in its 2023 Kings Speech, which sets out which Bills the Government will be working on during the next parliament (likely to be from now until the next election). This means it is unlikely that the Bill will get the parliamentary time and attention it needs to become law before a new Government is elected.  

However, this an urgent issue. There are 2,045 autistic people and people with learning disabilities in mental health hospitals in England – and 65% are autistic people. Hospitals are often miles away from patients' homes and support networks, and the average length of stay is more than five years. We hear alarming reports of people being subjected to overmedication, restraint and seclusion in these settings, often with devastating consequences.

Reforming the Mental Health Act would have been a key step towards ending this crisis. We also need significant, long-term funding for community mental health and social care services, so that autistic people can get the support they need in the first place and don’t need to reach crisis point and end up locked away in hospitals. We will continue to push all parliamentary parties to commit to ending this scandal.