HC Deb 04 July 2000 vol 353 cc152-3
9. Mr. Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks)

What the proposed timetable is for taking forward the proposals in the Green Paper "Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983". [127518]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton)

Consultation on our Green Paper "Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983" ended on 31 March. We have received more than 1,000 responses to this Green Paper, and we are considering all of them carefully. We will be making an announcement on the next stage of this reform process in the near future.

Mr. Fallon

Does the Minister's reply mean that he is ruling out legislation in the next Session? If compulsory powers are to be more widely used, does he agree that they should be balanced with better rights to assessment and effective early treatment?

Mr. Hutton

On the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question, we have always made it clear that we believe the answer is yes. That is precisely why the proposals on which we consulted set out the establishment of a new independent tribunal. In future that body would take decisions about whether compulsory treatment should be authorised. That would be a significant change from the present procedure whereby such decisions are essentially made by the clinical teams. That would be a substantial contribution to improving patients' civil liberties.

We would expect exactly the same approach to be taken in terms of the treatment of people with mental health problems as for any other group within the NHS, where possible. That should be by agreement and consensus. In some instances where people have very serious mental health problems, that is sadly not the case. Legislation has always recognised the need for a compulsory framework. We think that the present framework can be reconstituted on a fairer and more equitable basis, and that is the basis on which we intend to proceed. As the hon. Gentleman knows, decisions about the introduction of Government legislation will be taken not by me, but by others.

Dr. Lynne Jones (Birmingham, Selly Oak)

My hon. Friend will be aware that many of the people who responded to the Green Paper expressed concern that the Government had not wholeheartedly accepted recommendations made by the expert scoping group on the use of compulsion. Does he agree that compulsion should not be used as a substitute for good quality care? When legislation is introduced, will he consider using the capacity-based approach to safeguard against the inappropriate use of compulsory treatment?

Mr. Hutton

I must correct my hon. Friend: we did not reject the Richardson committee proposals in that regard. We simply posed an alternative procedure as a different gateway into compulsion. The consultation response revealed a marked divergence of opinion about the benefits or otherwise of a capacity-based system, and we must take that seriously. Of course, compulsion is not a short cut into second-quality treatment. We want patients who have mental health problems to have access to exactly the same high-quality standards of treatment and care as any other group of patients in the NHS.

Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford)

Does the Minister accept that notwithstanding any legislation that may be needed to reform the Mental Health Act 1983, it is equally important that the Government do not lose sight of the massive amount of work that must be done—led by the Government, one hopes—to seek to reduce the ignorance, the discrimination and the stigma attached to mental health problems in this country? If the Government can lead on that and help to educate people and to minimise the fears and the stigma, they would be doing a great favour to the whole of society.

Mr. Hutton

I strongly agree with what the hon. Gentleman says. He has held the same position as I in the Department of Health and he will know the situation. We accept our responsibilities to make sure that people who suffer from mental health problems are not routinely discriminated against in our society, because they certainly are; we know that. There is new legislation about disability discrimination rights on the statute book.

I can reassure the hon. Gentleman and the whole House—I am sure the whole House is with him on this—that the reform of the mental health legislation is only one part of the modernisation programme and the reforms that we have set in train for mental health services. We are putting substantial new resources into improving and changing the front-line services available for people with mental health problems, making them more proactive and able to reach, in particular, patients with severe mental health problems, who do not make contact with traditional mental health services. An important element of the wider work is certainly combating discrimination. We fund a number of initiatives in that area and will continue to do so.