House of Commons
Parliament

Mr Corbyn says in 2012 the Health and Social Care Act introduced parity of esteem with mental and physical health - due to a Labour amendment in the Lords.

Mr Corbyn says that 84 young men take their lives every week in the UK. Mental health trusts do have fewer resources, he insists, they have £105m less than they did six years ago.

Mrs May replies that there are wider areas of responsibility for dealing with mental health. There is parity of esteem, she says, and 1,400 people are accessing mental health services every day.

She says a further £1bn in mental health funding will be put into services.

"Dealing with mental health means addressing it in a variety of ways," says Mrs May, adding that they are being dealt with in more ways than they were under Labour.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Jeremy Corbyn says the ombudsman in the Southern Health case identified a lack of skilled and qualified staff at the trust.

He asks the prime minister why there are 5,000 fewer mental health nurses now compared to 2010.

Theresa May says the government is giving more money to mental health services and improving services on the ground.

Around 1,400 more people per day are accessing mental health services every day compared to when the government took office, she adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Now it's Jeremy Corbyn's turn for the first of his six questions as leader of the opposition.

He asks about the case of Connor Sparrowhawk, an autistic teenager who died in the care of Southern Health NHS trust. He asks what's being done to ensure that such a case can't happen again.

Theresa May says the case is "very important" and that "significant steps" have been taken. She says the government is "supporting NHS providers to be open and learn from mistakes" and that there will be a comprehensive CQC inspection" of Southern Health NHS trust this year.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Conservative Mike Wood says that Dudley Council has managed to protect social care and other services. He asks Mrs May to ignore calls from the Opposition to scrap the council tax referendum law "which prevents excessive council tax rises".

Mrs May says she agrees with Mr Wood and that people living in the Conservative-led council area pay among the lowest council tax.

The council has also managed to reverse street cleaning cuts and maintained weekly bin collection, she says, which were under threat from previous Labour control of the council.

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Prime Minister's Questions is underway...

House of Commons
Parliament

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The Chamber is filling up nicely ahead of Prime Minister's Questions at noon - the last before the Easter break.

Mrs May has arrived.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

The Conservatives believe the Force is with them in the final PMQs before Easter. They have good-ish economic news to trumpet, and the opportunity to intrude on Labour’s not so private grief over anti-semitism.

In recent weeks the lottery which chooses the backbench questioners has produced quite Labour-heavy batting orders, but this time the list is heavy with Tories, which means there will be little opportunity for the usual backbench attack dogs to get in by “bobbing” – that is jumping up and down to catch Mr Speaker’s eye.

An interesting question is whether the Labour leader’s backbench critics will choose to attack the PM, or him. The striking change of mood on the Labour benches in recent days could surface here.

Last week Jeremy Corbyn chose a local election theme for his questioning, zeroing in on Conservative discomfiture over the woes of Northamptonshire County Council. Will he have something up his sleeve about local authority cuts, as an appetiser for Labour’s Opposition Day debate, this afternoon?

His questioning last week got off to a strong start with a sardonic line about whether Northamptonshire voters should blame local or national Tories for their councils, which visibly discomforted Theresa May. But his questioning kind of petered out after that. He needs better follow-up.

Other subjects which may surface are the Warboys ruling this afternoon, blocking the release of the multiple rapist….. It is autism week, so someone from the active all-party group on the issue may get in – watch out for APPG Chair Dame Cheryl Gillan

Then there’s the Conservative Lucy Allan who has a big new investment in her local hospital to highlight, and Labour’s Nick Thomas Symonds, who is chair of another All-Party Group, the one on on Industrial Heritage. They are about to publish a report looking at how best to utilise Britain’s industrial past to create jobs for the future.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Chris Philp asks what the government is doing to tackle electoral fraud.

Cabinet Office Minister Chloe Smith says that electoral fraud "at any level" is unacceptable and undermines the democratic process.

She says that the Cabinet Office is working with five local authorities to pilot voter identification. Three others are trialing new measures to ensure the integrity in the proxy and postal vote process.

Mr Philp asks what efforts are being made to cross-reference the electoral roll with the immigration and nationality database.

Ms Smith replies that electoral registration officers have the ability to carry out nationality checks where necessary.

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The DUP's Gavin Robinson asks how the Union can be strengthened during the process of Brexit.

Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington states that the government is committed to the constitutional integrity of the UK.

Mr Robinson says the day after the transition period, Northern Ireland will celebrate its centenary as part of the UK union. He asks to meet with Mr Lidington to discuss this significant achievement.

Mr Lidington replies that he is very happy to meet with Mr Robinson, he says it is important to find an appropriate way of celebrating the centenary.

Select Committee
Parliament

Mr Mansell says he would regret if anyone had felt the process of signing an NDA was more stressful than necessary.

Ms Miller says she thought it was important to have that on record.

That concludes Mr Mansell and Ms Ludlow's evidence before the committee.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative MP Eddie Hughes asks if Mr Mansell "cares" if his clients stick to the terms of a non-disclosure agreement.

He also asks how NDAs are to be enforced.

In reply, Mr Mansell says he would care.

He says his professional duty is not just to reach a settlement, but to make sure "inappropriate conduct" is dealt with "appropriately".

Select Committee
Parliament

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Committee chair Maria Miller asks Tamara Ludlow whether she would ever advise a client to sign a confidentiality agreement of which they were not allowed to keep a copy.

She says a "warning notice" from the Solicitors Regulation Authority on the use of NDAs says copies of agreements should be given to those involved.

Ms Ludlow replies that she has never had a client who was not allowed to keep a copy of an agreement, and she wouldn't advise a client to sign one if that were the case.

Following up, Maria Miller asks whether Ms Ludlow would consider such an agreement to be unethical.

"Yeah, probably", she replies.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Zelda Perkins was the first witness to give evidence to the committee this morning.

She stayed on to hear Mark Mansell, the lawyer who drew up the non-disclosure agreement on behalf of Harvey Weinstein.

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative MP Vicky Ford asks what would happen if an NDA were breached.

Mr Mansell replies that an individual would never be "at risk of criminal proceedings".

If there were a "complete failure" of the NDA, he says, then potentially settlement money would be paid back or if the NDA did not break down completely, then damages could be paid.

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"You can't have an agreement covering up criminality," his former aide tells a Commons committee.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative Philip Davies asks if NDA agreements should be used to cover up crimes.

Mr Mansell replies that he does not believe that NDAs should be used to cover up criminal activity.

Mr Davies asks how many agreements have been used to prevent the authorities finding out about criminal behaviour.

Mr Mansell says an individual or employer always has the decision on whether or not they want to go to the authorities about criminal activity.

Mr Davies says the first principle of the Solicitors' Regulation Authority is "to uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice".

He asks Mr Mansell if all the NDAs he has drawn up have complied with that principle.

Mr Mansell says he does not believe he has ever drafted an agreement which has, or which was intended to, pervert the course of justice.

Select Committee
Parliament

MPs are questioning Mark Mansell on whether non-disclosure agreements prohibit signatories from taking part in a criminal process.

Philip Davis says: "I was always brought up to say you should tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She says he wonders whether NDAs are consistent with that.

Mr Mansell replies he is not saying that "you should not tell the truth", but he is talking about scenarios in which "someone could voluntarily disclose" information that they do not need to.

The committee chair intervenes to ask Mr Mansell whether he think provisions on "limiting disclosure" could be seen as perverting the course of justice.

Mr Mansell says he can "see how people might see them" and why "they might view it in that way".

He insists he "would never"' draw up an NDA that perverts the course of justice.

It is put to him that Zelda Perkins felt she would have ended up in jail if she broke her NDA.

Mr Mansell tells MPs: "I'd never want to try and make that situation worse for them. I would regret if any individual felt that was the case."

Select Committee
Parliament

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Zelda Perkins finishes her evidence, and MPs will now hear from lawyers from two firms which were involved in concluding Ms Perkins's confidentiality agreement with Harvey Weinstein's Miramax.

Mark Mansell is from Allen & Overy, who acted for Miramax and Harvey Weinstein. Tamara Ludlow is from Simons Muirhead & Burton, which represented Zelda Perkins.

Chair Maria Miller asks one of them, Mark Mansell, why the committee could not receive a copy of Ms Perkins's agreement despite requesting it from his firm.

Mr Mansell says that he is prohibited by professional duties to provide a copy of the confidentiality agreement in this case.

Miramax lawyers and lawyers for Mr Weinstein said they were unhappy for the agreement to be disclosed, he tells MPs.

Conservative MP Philip Davies asks if Mr Mansell how often a non-disclosure agreement is signed where a copy is not available to both parties.

Mr Mansell says this is "extremely rare". He adds that this is done to prevent a number of copies being available to both parties.