Letter to chief constables and police and crime commissioners (accessible)
Published 23 February 2023
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Home Secretary
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
CCs and PCCs in England
By email
23 February 2023
Dear Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners,
You have expressed concern about the pressures that mental health issues are placing on policing. I am writing to update you on Government work to address those pressures, including recent agreements made by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The Prime Minister recently set out that one of his crime priorities is to reduce burdens on the police from non-police activity. The Prime Minister and I want to see more police officers on the beat, investigating and preventing crime. Mental health demand pressures on many forces are taking officer time away from fighting crime. People in mental health crisis need to be seen by healthcare professionals to get the appropriate assessment or treatment in the right environment.
Many of you will be aware that on 23 January, DHSC announced further details on how they will use £150 million of capital investment to improve the mental health crisis care response. This includes £7 million capital funding for the procurement of specialised mental health ambulances, with the remaining £143 million for new, or to improve existing, mental health crisis response infrastructure.
The funding will provide over 30 schemes for crisis cafes, crisis houses and other similar safe spaces. It will also provide over 20 new or improved health-based places of safety. DHSC are today setting out to you their plan for where and when they will deliver the rollout of these alternative places of safety which I trust that you will find useful in discussions and planning with local partners.
In many situations it is important that police have swift access to refer individuals into professional mental health care. I am aware of different models, such as street triage and co-location of professionals, that are in place across the country and can support this. I therefore welcome the commitment by DHSC develop the right triage methods that will help remove police involvement earlier in the process of responding to mental health incidents.
In a roundtable chaired by the Policing Minister Chris Philp MP in December with the Minister for Mental Health, Maria Caulfield MP, as well as senior police and health leaders, there was consensus to work together to develop a National Partnership Agreement incorporating the principles of the Right Care, Right Person operating model followed in Humberside. Good progress has been made already in developing this agreement, with a final product expected by the end of March 2023. The Home Office, DHSC, NHSE and the NPCC are engaging on the National Partnership Agreement with police and health partners and experts by experience.
The College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) are working on a smarter practice product that is a detailed case study of Humberside’s application of the Right Care, Right Person Model, which they are on track to deliver by the end of March 2023. They are also working on a toolkit that will contain a range of products to assist forces in the implementation of the Right Care, Right Person approach, which they anticipate being ready by June 2023. DHSC will also work with NHS England to ensure that appropriate guidance for Integrated Care Board and Mental Health Trusts is developed by the end of July 2023. Once the National Partnership Agreement has been finalised, I encourage forces to work closely with local health partners to identify how to implement the model safely and effectively in your area.
It is important that once the National Partnership Agreement is finalised and the Right Care, Right Person model is adopted, that a monitoring and evaluation framework is in place. This will ensure that the agreement is working and that the impact of the changes can be measured. The Home Office will lead on this framework and will liaise with police and health partners, including the relevant inspectorates, in the development of that work. Minister Philp will convene a ministerial working group at the end of March, with Minister Caulfield, to oversee the development, rollout, and evaluation of these work streams. This working group will also help drive forward work to deliver the recommendations from Sir Stephen House’s Mental Health Sprint.
I am grateful for your continued focus on mental health and policing. I know that many of you are already working closely with health partners, through crisis care concordats or other local partnership groups. It is important that you continue to strengthen those partnerships, to improve data sharing and communication. The Home Office and DHSC are committed to working together to ensure that the appropriate health and social care is available to respond to those in crisis and that the police will play their part in mental health incidents when it is appropriate to do so.
Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP