Clause 5
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Tim Loughton (Shadow Minister (Children), Health; East Worthing and Shoreham, Conservative)
Yes, but the net has widened greatly. The terms under which somebody can be taken into detention have widened. Perhaps more damagingly, the impression and perceptions given to people mean that they will now not present, on the basis that they could quickly and easily become subject to a compulsory form of treatment rather than a voluntary one. That is why the fears that many of us who are involved with the Mental Health Alliance—particularly those from black and minority ethnic communities—have about this part of the Bill are so much greater than our concerns about other parts.