Police have laid out plans to drastically reduce the number of mental health callouts dealt with by officers, putting the onus back onto healthcare staff. Some forces in England and Wales currently attend 80 per cent of what a senior officer termed health and social care incidents, and this will be cut to between 20-30 per cent within the next two years. Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Councils recognise that the police may not always be the most appropriate service to respond to a mental health crisis and so it is good that this is being clarified through this national agreement. However, we are concerned that this is being rolled out too quickly, with inadequate local engagement and partnership working meaning that other agencies risk being unable to pick up any increases in demand for their services.” The LGA’s response was also reported on ITV Online, the Independent and Evening Standard.