Biography
Lord Bradley has engaged extensively with mental health and social care reform through ten debate speeches, with particular focus on the Mental Health Bill where he drew on his membership of the joint scrutiny committee and previous 2009 report to advocate for specific safeguards including a mental health commissioner, banning prisons and police cells as places of safety, and establishing timeframes for prisoner transfers to hospital. He has consistently raised concerns about unpaid carers, highlighting that carer's allowance of £83.30 per week does not adequately compensate the 61% of recipients with no other income despite the requirement to provide 35 hours of care weekly, and has called for an urgent review of this provision. His contributions reflect a recurring emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups in the mental health and social care systems through legislative reform and adequate financial support.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“My Lords, does my noble friend accept that the current value of the carer’s allowance does not reflect the extraordinary value of unpaid carers’ work? Does she therefore support an urgent review of the allowance in the social care review of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey?”
Record by topic
- Mental health281st of 88014.0
- Unpaid carers92nd of 2836.0
- A&E & ambulance response97th of 2584.0
- Health inequalities245th of 2882.0
- Learning disability & autism756th of 8992.0
- Adult social care & reform312th of 3762.0
What they’ve said
“…The Government have confirmed to me that 61% of unpaid carers in receipt of carer’s allowance have no other additional income from paid employment. This is not surprising, since eligibility for the allowance requires 35 hours of caring every week, but the amount received for this work is only £83.30 a week or less than…”
Social Care · 2025-06-24 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…As the House will know, the establishment of a mental health commissioner was a recommendation of the joint scrutiny committee on the Bill, of which I was a member, but, disappointingly, it was not included in the Bill.”
Mental Health Bill [HL] · 2025-04-02 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…First, to note my registered interests, as this is probably the last day of Committee, the establishment of a mental health commissioner was recommended by the Joint scrutiny Committee of which I was a member. So it was a great disappointment that the Government did not include it in the Bill.”
Mental Health Bill [HL] · 2025-02-24 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…I recommended that discussions should immediately commence to identify suitable local mental health facilities as the places of safety, ensuring that police stations should no longer be used for this purpose at that time.”
Mental Health Bill [HL] · 2025-01-27 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…health-based provision to support people who may be placed on remand, where the sole concern is the defendant’s mental health. We have to ensure that these facilities are geographically spread across the country.”
Mental Health Bill [HL] · 2025-01-27 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.