This page contains resources relating to the Mental Health Bill introduced into the House of Lords in November 2024, and which has now passed all Parliamentary stages, and is now awaiting Royal Assent.
Background to the Bill
The then-Prime Minister, Theresa May, commissioned an independent review of the Mental Health Act 1983 in October 2017. Chaired by Sir Simon Wessely, it reported in December 2018. The Government published its white paper, Reforming the Mental Health Act, in January 2021. It consulted on the white paper proposals from January to April 2021 and published its response to the consultation in August 2021. A draft Mental Health Bill was published in June 2022. It was subject to review by a joint Committee of the House of Lords and House of Commons. The Government responded in March 2024. The Conservative Government did not ultimately bring forward a Bill before the 2024 General Election; the Labour Government announced that it would bring forward such a Bill in its first King’s Speech.
The Bill and supporting materials
The current version of the Bill can be found here, and the Explanatory Notes here. The Bill is very difficult to read in isolation, as it is a Bill amending the Mental Health Act 1983. Helpfully, the DHSC have now produced a version of the Act as it would look as if amended by the Bill as it stands after Report stage in the House of Lords. I have also done a walkthrough of the MHA 1983 as if it would look if amended by the Bill as introduced (nb, this was recorded prior to Committee stage in the House of Lords – some changes have been made subsequently as very helpfully summarised by Tim Spencer-Lane here). I will re-record an updated walkthrough as soon as time allows.
The Impact Assessment for the Bill can be found here, and a Human Rights Memorandum here. An Easy Read version can be found here.
Useful contextual material
A timeline from independent review to draft Bill, and briefing paper (16 May 2025) from the House of Commons Library can be found here.
An earlier (18 November 2024) briefing paper from the House of Lords Library can be found here.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights published (19 May 2025) a legislative scrutiny report on the Bill as it stood on entry into the Commons here. On 8 May 2025, the Chair of the Committee sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Health with a report summarising a roundtable with people with personal experience of the mental health system, including people with learning disabilities, autistic people, and staff from supporting organisations.
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has published a series of POSTnotes. Whilst they were drafted by reference to earlier stages in the process, they remain very relevant in highlighting key issues and evidence.
Mental Health Act Reform – Race and Ethnic Inequalities (May 2022)
Mental Health Act Reform – Children and Young People (November 2022)
Reforming the Mental Health Act – Approaches to Improve Patient Choice (May 2023)
Mental Health Act reform – impacts on autistic people and people with a learning disability (July 2024)
