Mental Health Bill needs major changes

2.03.07pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 9th Jan 2007

Unless the Government allows major amendments to be made to the Mental Health Bill it faces serious defeats, warned Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Carlile, who chaired the scrutiny committee which reviewed the 2004 draft bill.

Commenting ahead of the first day of the Bill's committee stage in the House of Lords on Monday, he said:

"It is time for the Government to start listening. This Bill will do nothing to bring mental health legislation into the twenty-first century. It will introduce a broad range of new powers, yet do little to make the public any safer.

"The Bill will introduce unnecessarily wide powers of compulsion into the community while failing to give people in England and Wales the same rights and safeguards as exist in Scotland.

"The Government faces the very real prospect of defeats if it does not make major changes. A range of amendments with cross-party support have been tabled to ensure that the public get a bill which is fit for purpose.

"Only a radically amended bill will help to take mental health care forward in this country."