§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they explain the discrepancy between the estimated cost of Mental Health Review Tribunals, which is considered by recent research to be £12 million, and the direct expenditure on this system, reported as £4 million in the annual report for those tribunals for 1993.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)The direct costs of the Mental Health Review Tribunal service are met by the Department of Health and were approximately £4 million in 1993–94. In addition there are costs to the National Health Service, local authorities and the Home Office in providing the necessary reports for tribunals and attendance at hearings; legal aid costs for patients who are represented; general hospital administration; and the cost of the time of judges who preside at hearings of applications relating to restricted patients. The report of the study by Blumenthal and Wessely onThe pattern of delays in Mental Health Review Tribunals, a copy of which is in the Library, estimates these additional costs at some £8 million annually.