Clause 4
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
9:25 am
Rosie Winterton (Minister of State (Health Services), Department of Health; Doncaster Central, Labour)
May I first welcome you tothe Chair, Miss Begg? It is a great pleasure to serve under you.
The Government are opposing clause 4. The clause goes to the heart of the issue of when people have to be detained in unfortunate circumstances. Obviously, we are referring to very vulnerable people whom we detain because of the risk that they pose to themselves or, in a small number of cases, to other people.
When I was looking through the Second Reading debate, it became clear that some of the Opposition’s arguments came from a libertarian approach. In effect, that means that the least compulsion is best and that people have a right to refuse treatment. That goes to the heart of the way one would approach physical health. However, I believe that there is a crucial difference when it comes to mental health in those circumstances. The effect of clause 4 is that no one may be detained under sections 2 or 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 unless their ability to make decisions about their treatment is significantly impaired by their mental disorder. In other words, it superimposes on the Act an impaired decision-making test over and above what exists at the moment.