Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, has announced his intention to set up a Mental Health and Policing Board. Attending his first Governance Board on 2nd August, Mr Scott set out plans to revolutionise the way the police interact with people with mental health issues.
Mr Scott has made mental health one of the priorities in his forward strategy because, as he stated: “too much police time is being spent deployed to incidents as a result of, or aggravated by, poor mental health […] There has been an increase in the number of people detained in Kent under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act which has led to officers having to wait for long periods in car parks, A&E departments or in custody and is a trend we cannot allow to continue”.
Gillingham and Rainham MP, Rehman Chishti, has welcomed Mr Scott’s commitment to ensuring that vulnerable members of the community get the support they need. Writing to the Police and Crime Commissioner, Mr Chishti has offered his support for the setting up of a Kent Mental Health and Policing Board.
In his letter, Mr Chishti emphasised that “[i]t is essential that all of our public services work to ensure that vulnerable people get the support they need” and he thanked Mr Scott for taking the initiative in this respect on behalf of Kent Police.
Championing improved mental health support, last month Mr Chishti introduced in Parliament the Perinatal Mental Illness (NHS Family Services) Bill 2016-17. This is a Private Member’s Bill to make provision for the appropriate level of access to NHS services and accommodation for mothers with perinatal mental illness. Backed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Bill will get its second reading in the Commons on 2 December 2016.