Exclusive: Universities might actually be judged on how well they care for mental health thetab.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetab.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Universities could finally be forced to have a legal duty for student mental health, under a new bill being introduced to the House of Lords.
The bill, introduced by Conservative peer Lord Ralph Lucas, would also require universities to give students the option for the uni to call a parent if the student is in crisis.
Calls have been growing for universities to do so, after several parents – including the father of Bristol student Ben Murray – publicly said their children would still be alive if they had been contacted.
Titled the “Student Mental Health Bill”, the bill includes measures which would require universities to record contact details, for every student, of a person to be contacted in an emergency, and “set out a duty on such providers to support student mental health”.
The Student Mental Health Bill has been introduced to the House of Lords
Conservative peer Lord Ralph Lucas wants universities to look after students
It means parents could be called if their child suffers a mental health crisis
Anyone seeking help can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit Samaritans.org
Did your child suffer a mental health crisis while at university? Email emer.scully@mailonline.co.uk
1181246830 Motherhood saved. This past week in parliament a tiny seven-clause piece of legislation threatened to airbrush motherhood from the statute books. A Bill extending maternity benefits to “pregnant persons” instead of “mothers” had been tabled by the government. And so, a truly shocking precedent was set to be created. If the Bill had become law, it wouldn’t have been long before “mother” was expunged from other legislation too. But Lord Lucas tabled an amendment to replace “person” with “mother”. The government has now backed the amendment and accepted that pregnant persons are in fact mothers. Without exception. What a surprise!
The Government has bowed to peers over demands to change the wording of legislation allowing ministers to take paid maternity leave from “person” to “mother”.
All sides of the Lords were fiercely critical of the use of the word person, instead of woman, throughout the Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill.
After accusations that this amounted to “abandoning women”, Cabinet minister Lord True said the Government was willing to accept a cross-party amendment to the legislation.
The change will remove references to “person” in the Bill and replace them with “mother or expectant mother”.
The Bill is being rushed through Parliament to allow Attorney General Suella Braverman to take six months away from her post following the pending birth of her second child.