Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to better reflect developing human rights standards.
We outlined our plans to reform and modernise mental health legislation in Scotland in our “Mental Health Capacity Reform: Delivery Plan” published in June 2024 (Mental Health and Capacity Reform: delivery plan October 2023 to April 2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)).
The plan sets out the recommendations of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (SMHLR) that will be considered in the short to medium term. We have sought to prioritise areas of potential change that can be achieved as quickly as possible, within existing resources, as well as starting new work to scope and develop options for future reform. This includes work to consider various aspects of the scope of compulsory care and treatment within the 2003 Act; work around the operation of named persons within the mental health tribunal system; and advance statement safeguards.
We are taking staged approach to mental health law reform due to the scope, complexity, and inter-related nature of the SMHLR recommendations with other significant ongoing policy developments. This approach recognises the pressure on budgets and services and the challenges of delivering further change and reform at a time when there is significant wider transformation across the health and social care sectors.