I beg to move amendment 69, in clause 8, page 5, line 16, leave out subsections (1) to (5) and insert—

“(1) The Secretary of State must ensure that at the end of each year statistics are published regarding the use of force by staff who work in mental health units.

(1A) The statistics must provide an analysis of the use of force in mental health units by reference to the relevant information recorded by responsible persons under section 7.

(1B) In subsection (1A) ‘relevant information’ means the information falling within section 7(3)(a), (b), (g), (h) and (j).”.

This amendment replaces the provisions of Clause 8 with a duty imposed on the Secretary of State to ensure that statistics are produced regarding the use of force in mental health units.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment (a), at end insert—

“(1C) The Secretary of State must make an annual statement to Parliament, as soon as practicable following the publication of the statistics under subsection (1).”

Clause stand part.

Clause 8 places a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that statistics on the use of force against mental health patients are published annually. That will allow us to identify trends in the way, and against whom, force is being used, and whether its use is reducing as intended, or whether some groups, such as BAME patients or women patients, are experiencing disproportionate use of force, as appears to be the evidence from the existing inadequate statistics.

The Secretary of State will be ultimately responsible for ensuring that NHS Digital publishes the statistics. Amendment 69 revises the list of information covered by the statistics to ensure that it covers the place, date and duration of the use of force; the types of force used on the patient; the relevant characteristics of the patient, such as age, ethnicity, gender or other demographic or similar characteristics; whether the patient has a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder; and whether the patient died or suffered a serious injury as a result of the use of force.

My hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree—I am pleased to see that she has joined us—has tabled an amendment in this group, and I would be happy to give way to her so she can explain the reasons for that.

Order. It is not a question of giving way. The hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree will be called afterwards.

In which case, I will comment briefly. My hon. Friend raises a point that we discussed at an earlier stage. The Minister took the view that there was a better way to achieve these objectives, but I look forward to hearing my hon. Friend’s comments before we take a decision.

I thank my hon. Friend for his representations. I apologise for being a few minutes late—I was at another event.

Amendment (a) is about accountability: it would ensure we have annual updates on progress. Ultimately, that is the motivation behind the amendment. Having annual statistics on the use of force under clause 8 would ultimately lead to a minimisation of, and reduction in, the use of force. That is why we are all here today, so that update is absolutely critical.

In the Committee’s first sitting, clause 9 was amended to require the Secretary of State to publish a report relating to any reviews, and other reports about individual cases, particularly relating to deaths and serious injuries, but there is no requirement for the Secretary of State to publish a report relating to the annual stats on the use of force. Therefore, there is no opportunity for Parliament to scrutinise the progress towards the goal of reducing the use of force, which is the purpose of the Bill. That is the motivation behind the amendment.

This clause, which relates to the requirement for the Secretary of State to report on the use of force, goes to the heart of what we are trying to achieve with this Bill in terms of improving transparency. The amendments are the result of our discussions with the hon. Member for Croydon North and other interested parties, so they were reached in the spirit of consensus.

I am confident that the publication of statistics about the use of force in mental health units, building on the improved local data recording powers under clause 7, will significantly improve our national understanding of how force is used. The Government fully support the hon. Gentleman in his wish to see improved recording and reporting on the use of force. I am pleased that we agree that NHS Digital is the right organisation to collect and publish those important statistics.

I completely agree with the sentiments behind the amendment in the name of the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree. It will often be appropriate for the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament a financial statement, an important report or a draft piece of guidance to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny. For example, the Mental Health Act 1983 requires the Secretary of State to lay a copy of any changes to permanent practice before Parliament. As the hon. Lady said earlier, in our discussions in a previous sitting we said we very much anticipate that the Secretary of State will lay an annual report on the use of force before Parliament. To make the report specifically about the statistics collected would introduce an aberration into how we treat NHS Digital statistics. We produce a wide range of health statistics each year, and to single out that subset would not be welcome. However, I expect that, in the course of making the annual report on the use of force, the publication of the statistics will provide a basis on which the Secretary of State will report.

I ask the hon. Lady not to press her amendment, on the basis that it is too prescriptive about the use of statistics. I hope she recognises that that is in no way an attempt to undermine transparency, which she and I want the Bill to secure. Once these figures are out in the public domain, there will be any number of ways in which all hon. Members can hold the Secretary of State to account, and experience tells me that the hon. Lady will always use them to hold us to account in relation to the use of these powers.

I hope that reassures the hon. Lady. For the reasons I set out, we are content to support the hon. Gentleman’s amendment and the clause, but we oppose amendment (a).

Does the hon. Lady wish to press the amendment?

On the basis of what the Minister has said, I am content not to press the amendment.

Amendment 69 agreed to.

Clause 8, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 12