HL Deb 12 June 1923 vol 54 cc455-8

Amendments reported (according to Order).

Clause 4 (Temporary treatment of mental disorder without certification):

THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION (THE EARL OF ONSLOW) moved, after subsection (5), to insert the following new subsection: (6) A person receiving treatment under this section in any approved institution shall not be moved to another approved institution without the consent of the Board of Control.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, this Amendment has been put in because the Bill as it stands makes no provision for the transfer of a patient from one particular institution to another. The recommendation which a patient has received before he can be admitted into one of these institutions is for treatment at a specific institution. If the patient desired to change to another institution he would have to discharge himself from the first, and then obtain a fresh recommendation for admission to the second institution. Such procedure is cumbersome, slow, and probably expensive.

The effect of the Amendment is to give the Board of Control power to sanction a transfer from one institution to another if they are satisfied that such a transfer is desired. It does not empower the Board to order a transfer, and a change can only be made on the application of a patient, or, in the case of minors or patients incapable of volition, on the application of parents or guardians. The transfer would not affect the right of a patient to discharge himself on giving notice to the superintendent. I therefore venture to hope that your Lordships will accept the Amendment which, I think, makes the Bill more conveniently workable.

Amendment moved— Page 5, line 5, at end insert the said subsection.—(The Earl of Onslow.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 7:

Expenses of visiting committees.

7.—(1) Any expenses incurred by a visiting committee under this Act shall be defrayed by the local authority by which the committee is appointed out of the county fund or out of the borough fund or borough rate, as the case may be.

THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, in subsection (1), after "Act," to insert "including expenses incurred in conveying patients to or from institutions and any other expenses preliminary or incidental to the reception or discharge of patients. "The noble Earl said: My Lords, the object of this Amendment is to give effect to an undertaking that I gave on Second Reading to endeavour to meet the noble Earl, Lord Russell, in his proposal. The Amendment enables the local authority to meet expenses incurred in conveying patients to and from institutions, and other expenses incidental to their reception and discharge.

Amendment moved— Page 6, line 18, after ("Act") insert ("(including expenses incurred in conveying patients to or from institutions and any other expenses preliminary or incidental to the reception or discharge of patients)").—(The Earl of Onslow.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 8:

Application to London.

8. The provisions of this Act relating to the constitution of visiting committees shall not apply to the administrative county of London, and the powers conferred by this Act on visiting committees shall, so far as relates to the said county, be vested in the London County Council, and Section thirty-five of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1915, shall have effect as though the said powers had been transferred to the London County Council by that Act.

THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, at the end of the clause, to insert the following new subsection: (2) Any expenses (other than expenses relating to the provision, equipment and maintenance of buildings) incurred under this Act by the London County Council or the Common Council of the City of London shall be defrayed as if they were expenses for general county purposes of the Administrative County of London, and the London County Council shall repay to the Common Council of the City of London at the end of every half-year all expenses incurred by the Common Council as aforesaid, as certified by the City Chamberlain. Any expenses relating to the provision, equipment and maintenance of buildings under this Act shall be defrayed in the case of the London County Council as expenses for special county purposes and in the case of the Common Council out of the general rate. If any question arises as to whether any expenses are or are not expenses relating to the provision, equipment and maintenance of buildings, the question shall be determined by the Board of Control, and the determination of the Board shall for all purposes be final and conclusive.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, by Clause 7 of the Bill the expenses incurred by local authorities are to be defrayed out of the county fund or borough fund or rate. Thus the expenses will not be recoverable from the poor law authorities. This has created a difficulty in the case of London. By Clause 8 the Corporation of the City of London maintains its present jurisdiction independent of the London County Council. At present the expenses of maintaining lunatics are equalised over the whole of London by what is known as the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund and it has been necessary to make provision in this Bill to assimilate the incidence of expenditure in London to that already prevailing under the Lunacy Acts. While preserving the independence of the City of London as a separate authority this Amendment proposes that the expenses of maintaining cases under the Bill shall be defrayed as if they were general county expenses for the whole of London, and at the end of each half year the London County Council will repay to the Corporation of the City of London expenses incurred by them. Capital expenditure for the provision, equipment, and maintenance of buildings will be defrayed by the two authorities independently, and any question arising as to the allocation of expenditure will be determined by the Board of Control.

Amendment moved— Page 6, line 38, at end insert the said subsection.—(The Earl of Onslow.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 10 (Short title, interpretation, and power to make adaptations):

THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved to insert in subsection (2), immediately before the last paragraph, " The expression 'minor' means an unmarried person under the age of eighteen years. "The noble Earl said: My Lords, this is inserted in order to meet the views expressed by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Phillimore, during the Committee stage. It is done by the method which the noble and learned Lord himself suggested.

Amendment moved— Page 7, line 24, at end insert (" The expression 'minor' means an unmarried person under the age of eighteen years ").—(The Earl of Onslow.)

LORD PHILLIMORE

The Amendment entirely meets my suggestion, and I think the alteration will be a great improvement.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.