Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [HL] - Committee (1st Day)

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 6:15 pm on 5 September 2018.

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Photo of Lord Touhig Lord Touhig Labour 6:15, 5 September 2018

My Lords, the Law Commission supports this and I certainly support the amendment as tabled by my noble friend Lady Thornton. Including 16 and 17 year-olds would offer some legal protection for organisations such as the National Autistic Society, of which I am a vice-president. We do a huge amount of work with young adults and strongly believe that this is important for them—for their work and for their future. This was raised during Second Reading by a number of people—I was one of those who raised the matter. The Minister indicated that he would look at it and, indeed, in a letter from him on 24 July, he said:

“During my speech I indicated that I would like to reflect on the matter of how the model could fit with 16 and 17 year old young people”.

Perhaps, when he gets up, he will have some good news for us.