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This paper discusses the Government's White Paper on Reforming the Mental Health Act 1983, a summary of consultation responses and the Draft Mental Health Bill 2022.
Reforming the Mental Health Act (343 KB , PDF)
The Government’s white paper on Reforming the Mental Health Act, published on 13 January 2021, contains wide-ranging proposals to reform the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended in 2007) in England and Wales.
This briefing outlines the background to the reforms, some of the main proposals in the white paper and initial reactions. It also outlines the Government’s response to a consultation on the white paper proposals details of the draft Mental Health Bill, published in June 2022 and initial reactions to the Bill. Further information on wider mental health policy in England can be found in the Library Briefing Mental Health Policy in England.
The white paper was preceded by an Independent Review which published its final report, Modernising the Mental Health Act, in December 2018. The purpose of the Independent Review was to understand:
The Independent Review recommended changes to the law to make it easier for patients and service users to participate in decisions about their care, to restore their dignity and recognize the importance of human rights in mental health care. The Independent Review made over 150 recommendations and the Government accepted most and incorporated them in the white paper.
The white paper is divided into three sections – the first focuses on the legislative changes; the second outlines what policy and practice changes are required to support the new law and improve patient experiences; and the final section considers the Government’s response to the earlier Independent Review.
The white paper includes a range of proposals to reform the Act as well as to bring about improvements in policy, practice, and service delivery. The overall aim is to bring the law in line with modern mental health care and ensure that patients are involved more closely in decisions about their care and treatment.
Included in the proposals for legal change are plans to tighten the admission criteria and raise the threshold for compulsory detention; reduce the use of community treatment orders; strengthen some of the statutory safeguards by giving more frequent access to the tribunal to review detention; bolster support from family members and independent advocates; and enable patients to make advance choices about their future mental health care and treatment. There are also proposals designed to reduce the use of the Act for persons with a learning disability and/or on the autism spectrum, and a range of measures targeted at improving the experiences of persons from BAME groups.
The Government consulted on the white paper proposals from January to April 2021 and published its response to the consultation in August 2021. Respondents were broadly supportive of the proposals. The Government said it would continue to work with stakeholders to refine the proposals, to make final policy decisions and develop a draft Bill.
The Queen’s Speech in May 2022 included an announcement on draft legislation to reform the Mental Health Act. The draft Bill will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny before it is introduced in Parliament.
Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care introduced the draft Mental Health Bill in parliament on Monday 27th June 2022. He said the Bill will “modernise legislation” and “make sure that it is fit for the future”.
On 28th June 2022, Lord Kamall, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care indicated that pre-legislative scrutiny would “commence at the earliest opportunity” and the government’s ambition is “to introduce the Bill in the new year.”
The draft Bill contains a number of amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 which would bring in the following changes:
The draft Bill has been broadly welcomed by stakeholders. However, there have been calls for investment in community social care and mental health services and the mental health workforce. Others have called for pre-legislative scrutiny to improve safeguards for children and young people and take further steps to address racial inequalities.
Reforming the Mental Health Act (343 KB , PDF)
How does conflict affect the mental health of refugees, and how has the UK Government responded to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine?
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