Speeches by Craft.

“It sounds almost like the thing that drives you is your very strong philosophical drive, but you also have a mental health trust that is genuinely supportive. I am quite interested in that. You also pointed out that there are some teams who find your anti-racist work almost a challenge. As I said to the previous panel,…”

“This is addressed to Abdirahim, first of all. Could you take us through some of the culturally sensitive interventions that Coffee Afrik carries out? I am particularly interested—I think the Committee is as well—in how you are addressing some of the stigmas and how you are reaching out to a community that does not trad…”

“Do you ever have any interaction where a local community mental health trust or similar would come to you and say, “This is what we need” and you can say, “This is what we need”? Is it much more piecemeal—“We have identified that you do a thing and we are sending someone to you for this”—rather than what I would almost…”

“One of the purposes of today’s session is to look at models that work successfully and how they might be scaled up. Jake, your Hope in the Community project is great, but I get the impression that you have lots of ideas about how that could go further with good working with your local healthcare providers. What have be…”

“That was really helpful.”

“I am very interested in the fact that you co-design and co-locate. You co-produce, would you say, as well? What have been the barriers to being able to do this? Have the local mental health services been helpful and supportive? Have you had a difficult relationship at times? How did you overcome those?”

“You said something there about seeing people as individuals. In a lot of the lived experience sessions we have had, which I have found particularly interesting, people living with serious mental illnesses have talked about how being seen as an individual contributes to their good mental health. They are not just being …”

“Thank you. I am so sorry that we do not have more time. I could talk about this all day.”

“The early intervention pathway on psychosis is particularly interesting. I may have got this wrong, but you said that you did it without the evidence to say that it might work, because it seemed fairly obvious that it would. Could we do that in other areas? You did say there is a need to have the evidence base before y…”

“It is just helpful, how it interplays with some of the community-based services that we have seen. It feels like there is not necessarily that ability to data-capture what they do and how that interacts with more NHS, state-provided services. If there was a way to do that, would that be transformative to how community …”

“I am really very interested in the work around reducing stigma. Someone came to give evidence in a previous Committee meeting who receives therapy through Black Minds Matter. He was extraordinarily complimentary about the work that you do, but he was very clear that there is an enhanced stigma for black communities in …”

“It seems like both of you are saying you are reaching people through non-traditional methods of access. That is an interesting way to break down the stigma. Jake, could you say something about some of the data that you see coming back? I have had a look at your app, by the way. It is fab. Are some of the people who are…”

“How do you two find the interaction with community mental health teams, if there is any at all? How does that work out? I am thinking specifically for people who have severe mental illness. The scope of our inquiry is looking at people who fall into that category and how community mental health teams can be transformed…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue in more detail with him, although we will probably continue to disagree. People with learning disabilities and autism can suffer from mental health conditions as much as the rest of the population, but they have a unique…”

“I am sure the hon. Member will want to come in on this.”

“The Mental Health Bill is a long overdue update to the Mental Health Act 1983, and I hope it will be the start of a much wider overhaul of a mental health system that is often not fit for purpose and has historically been treated as secondary to the physical health system. It is a system where too often patient voices …”

“I very much support what my hon. Friend is saying about making sure that there is an active plan. One of my concerns is that implementation of this Bill will be delayed until community support is ready. Does he agree that it would be welcome if the Minister offered a reflection on what good looks like in this space, an…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who has brought his wealth of experience to this place. Would he concede that the focus on learning disability and autism is perhaps because those disorders have very specific features? Being in an unfamiliar, over-sensory stimulating or noisy environment, with a break from routine,…”

“Does the Secretary of State agree that a proper community treatment plan for those with learning disabilities and autism is not just reliant on the actions of his Department, but a cross-Government effort and an integrated care system at a local level?”

“Is my hon. Friend able to name an intervention for a diagnosis of mild autism that could be considered a medical intervention, not something to address one of the social issues he has identified, that could harm the individual?”