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Mental Health Bill [HL]

It has been a helpful debate. I welcome the Minister’s constructive response, and I am glad that he has taken on board the points that noble Lords have made. I look forward to receiving the letter that he has promised about the case law. I re-emphasise the difficulty that is often faced by parents in this situation. They are put between a rock and a hard place. As the nearest relative, when confronted by a choice between their child being sectioned and giving consent on behalf of the child, they will almost always give consent on behalf of the child. Either way, they are put in an absolutely invidious position for which the child is likely to blame them for the rest of his or her life. I note the Minister’s view that this is code-of-practice territory. I will have a look at that point and at the draft code and see what it says, but perhaps we can reserve the right to come back to this at a later stage. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.