Yes it is me blogging again - well actually it is me posting up some news that I received about the mental health bill.

You see there has been lots happening with regard to the mental health bill- to find out more about the bill please click here

As you may know, the Government did respond to the Scrutiny Committee's report that happened last year. They claimed to have met half of the Committee’s proposals, in full or in part. In effect, they failed to accept more than half of the 107 recommendations made. There is still a lot of work to be done.

As far as NUS is concerned, the concessions made are insufficient: they fail to address key concerns. The Bill’s criteria for exclusions and compulsion remain insufficient. Treatment safeguards are still inadequate. The proposed tribunal system and community treatment orders are unworkable. The Government says that its proposals will improve public safety and have the support of the general public. But the Mental Health Bill will not make anyone safer and those that will suffer are members of the public. That is why we have joined the mental health alliance, are arranging a lobby of parliament about the bill on Wednesday November 23rd and believe that students and student officers should be campaigning about this. Mental ill health could affect any of us. We need to get this bill changed!

The Government remains determined to press on and, to a large extent, disregard the collective expertise of the 75 organizations that are members of the Mental Health Alliance (including NUS), as well as the calls by an all-party committee of MPs and Peers for the draft Bill to be significantly changed.

When the scrutiny process was announced, the Government said that it would introduce a Bill into Parliament this autumn. This was confirmed in the Queen's Speech after the General Election. Therefore, the Government’s stated aim is to have a new Act by the summer of 2006.

In light of this, the next four to five months are of crucial importance to the future of mental health. We are seeking your help in raising awareness of our shared concerns in your local Students' Union. This can be achieved by writing to your MP and asking them to support the reforms sought by the NUS and the Mental Health Alliance. The best and most powerful letters are those, which include personal experiences. If your MP responds by saying they do support reform - or are at least willing to discuss the details of the proposals further - then why not organize a group of interested students to meet with him or her at their constituency surgery?

The Mental Health Alliance is keen to make its concerns known to the general public and would be willing to send a representative along to join the local lobby and possibly get some publicity in the local newspaper. They have an established format for speaker meetings and would be delighted to provide support - be it in the form of a speaker, background literature, draft invitations, or financial help for room bookings (or all of the above) - to anybody willing to act as the local host.

If you do get any information on the position of your MP, or indeed any Lords you happen to know, please inform us so that our database stays as comprehensive and up to date as possible. It is extremely useful for us to know what particular issues are priorities for any given MP or Peer.

For future reference the Mental Health Alliance intend to have a big national lobby of Parliament early next year. Any information you can provide on local contacts would be gratefully received, as we seek to attract the widest possible involvement.

NUS will be holding a lobby of parliament on Wednesday November 23rd. If you would like to know more information or are keen to attend the lobby then please email me on sian.davies@nus.org.uk

Lastly, you can also show your concern by signing the petition on the Mind website www.mind.org.uk and encourage your friends and colleagues, particularly people who have not campaigned on the Bill before, to do the same.

We must change this bill and students should be at the forefront of campaigning to stop a bill that will impact on human rights. Mental health affects us all and we must lobby and campaign. Please do get involved

Thanks
Sian xx

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