A Consultation on proposals for a Mental Health (Scotland) Bill

Chapter 1 Introduction

1. The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (the "2003 Act") came into force in October 2005. Whilst it has been generally agreed that the 2003 Act is a significant advance on the previous Mental Health (Scotland ) Act 1984, it became clear from the on-going monitoring to which the Act was subject that there were some aspects of the legislation which were not operating as efficiently and effectively as had been intended.

2. The Scottish Government (SG) instituted a limited review of the civil provisions of the 2003 Act under the chairmanship of Professor Jim McManus^[1] and subsequently sought views on the Review Group's recommendations through a public consultation exercise. The responses to that consultation helped inform the SG's formal response^[2] to the McManus Report which in turn has informed this consultation paper and draft Bill.

3. In addition to the Review Group recommendations, a number of matters relating to how the legislation is working in practice have been brought to the SG's attention by service users and practitioners. The SG therefore proposes to bring forward primary legislation to amend provisions within the 2003 Act and some related provisions in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (the "1995 Act"). These amendments will relate to advance statements, named persons, medical matters and suspension of detention, as recommended by the Review Group, as well as resolving a number of minor technical matters, raised by service users and practitioners.

4. Following a public consultation^[3] , the SG has decided to introduce a notification scheme for victims of mentally disordered offenders (MDOs). As this will require primary legislation the SG intends to use the draft Mental Health Bill as a vehicle to implement its proposals.

5. The purpose of the attached (Annex A) draft Mental Health Bill is to bring forward amending legislation to address the matters referred to above and which are discussed in more detail in Chapters 2 to 4 of this document. The Bill's overarching aim is to ensure that people with a mental health disorder can access effective treatment quickly and easily. Subject to the Bill successfully completing the parliamentary process, it will provide an improved legislative framework to help treat and care for people with a mental disorder whilst at the same time increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of existing procedures and processes for both the patient and practitioner alike.