Speeches by Craft.

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

“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…”

“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…”

“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 …”

“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?”

“I will come to that point a little later, but that confinement is detrimental to their mental health. It can sometimes be hard to pick apart a co-existing or co-occurring mental health condition from the behaviour exhibited within that environment. This is part of the reason that it is all but impossible for some detai…”

“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.”

“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?”

“That is really interesting. I noticed that black women are much more likely to be admitted to inpatient treatment for postnatal maternal care, but also much less likely to access and receive initial mental health treatment. Do you think there is a systematic thing happening where black women are unable to receive the r…”

“I am quite interested, following along a lot of the discussions, that one of the key issues that black women face is this sense of almost a reluctance to access NHS services, because you feel it is not a safe place to be and it is not the place where you will get the treatment that you need. I wonder whether, in the fi…”

“Is there a training issue with NHS clinical staff when it comes to mental health support, or is there more of a solution in finding those community‑based interventions, because that trust is so far removed that trying to just train people to recognise differently presenting mental health conditions or late-presenting m…”

“Shanthi, you might be able to speak to this a bit. What kind of incentives could be built into the system to encourage both clinical staff and maybe community‑based approaches to recognise the unique challenges that black women face with their postnatal mental health?”

“Marian, looking at the data, are there any gaps in understanding the drivers for black maternal mental health either being picked up too late or not being treated appropriately? Are there any gaps in the data as to how that drives postnatal mortality?”

“It is a case of having something that is more bespoke, recognising that, in black women’s experience postnatally, especially in the field of mental health, there are a number of different things interplaying. Would you say something along those lines around people having that awareness and acknowledgement that there wi…”

“Thank you so much. I could talk about this all day, but I am going to hand back to the Chair.”

“I did.”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In last Wednesday’s Adjournment debate on Essex devolution, the hon. Member for South Basildon and East Thurrock (James McMurdock) stated that it was his understanding that “there have been conversations between local councils about Thurrock joining London.”—[Official Report, …”