The recent launch of the post-Winterbourne View transformation programme was designed with long and short-term objectives in mind.

In the short-term, the planned reduction in the 3,230 people in these sorts of assessment centres is overwhelmingly to be welcomed. It will mean, inevitably, that some will close and those remaining will be better staffed, better supervised, and unlikely to hold on to residents for more than a matter of weeks, or where absolutely necessary, months.