MERSEYSIDE’S police commissioner has called for Government officials to change the law supporting the way vulnerable adults in custody are supported.

Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 codes of practice the police need to contact an ‘appropriate adult’ (AA) as soon as practicable when they believe a person they have in custody may be vulnerable or is under 18.

This would include people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and autism.

Jane Kennedy stepped in to fund an AA service, delivered by The Appropriate Adult Service (TAAS) for a six month period in 2016 but has since been unable to find a long-term solution for the service.

It is being funded for a further year by police cash reserves.

Ms Kennedy is calling upon the Government to assess the situation by changing the law to make this service a required responsibility, in the same way that appropriate adults for young people are provided.

She said: “It is a mark of our civilisation that we give our most vulnerable people proper protection in detention, making sure they have the right help and support that they, and the authorities need.

“People who have learning disabilities, are experiencing mental health problems or are particularly vulnerable should not be detained longer than is absolutely necessary.

“Between May 2016 and January 2018, the service I commissioned from TAAS has safeguarded the welfare and rights of nearly 1,200 vulnerable adults – individuals who otherwise would not have received the support they need and deserve and to which they have a legal right.

“I stepped in to fund this service using reserves as a short-term solution nearly two years ago.

"I am now being forced to choose between reducing the support I can provide for victims of crime or other important community safety work to fund this service, or allow vulnerable adults to be let down.

“In other policing regions, I know this service is not being delivered. People with learning disabilities, mental illnesses and autism are being detained and questioned without appropriate support, even though it is against the law.

“I have repeatedly raised my concerns with ministers, most recently in a letter to Policing Minister Nick Hurd last September. Yet my calls for change appear to be falling on deaf ears.

“The Government cannot wash its hands of this situation any longer.”