Mental Health and Capacity Reform: delivery plan October 2023 to April 2025

Introduction

In June 2023, the Scottish Government published our response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (SMHLR) and committed to establish a Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme, to bring changes that give people greater control over their lives, care and treatment.

The Programme will work to update and modernise our legislation, in line with developing thinking and international standards on human rights. It will also drive action to better implement rights in practice, ensure that we have the right mechanisms to monitor human rights and respond appropriately to rights and issues as they arise.

This delivery plan is an important first step in describing the work that is underway or will be immediately progressed as we start to establish the Programme. It describes our approach to this work, sets out the actions we will take and the initial milestones that we have started to implement from October 2023 and new work until April 2025.

It’s successful delivery will contribute to and be supported by work to deliver the outcomes set by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, to improve the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in Scotland; similarly to the Creating Hope Together (suicide prevention) strategy. More broadly, it will also align with the wider Scottish Government commitments to incorporate a range of economic, social and cultural rights into domestic law in Scotland, as far as possible within the limits of devolved competence.