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Mental Health Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 31: 31: After Clause 20 , insert the following new Clause— ““Warrant to search for and remove patients In section 135 of the 1983 Act for subsection (1)(a) and (b) substitute— ““(a) may be in need of care or treatment for his mental disorder and is living in any place within the jurisdiction of the justice, (b) access to that place is necessary for the purpose of establishing whether or not he is in need of such care or treatment; and (c) it has not been possible to gain such access without a warrant””.”” The noble Earl said: Amendment No. 31 takes us into some outdated and antique corners of the law. Sometimes it is necessary for the police to obtain a warrant in order to gain access to someone who is believed to be suffering from a mental disorder and to be in need of care and treatment. Section 135 of the 1983 Act is intended to deal with that situation. However, it is quite obvious when you read the first subsection of it that it comes from a bygone age. It is based on the equivalent provisions in the LunacyAct 1890 and the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, and neither its language nor its criteria reflect the world we live in today. The amendment would remove some pretty stigmatising and inappropriate language and bring the criteria in line with the rest of the Act. It would also make it clear that the provision should be invoked only when attempts to obtain access without a warrant, using non-forcible means, have failed. Non-forcible entry is the subject of Amendment No. 34, which is grouped here. It seeks to provide a right of non-forcible entry into private premises for an approved mental health worker, doctor, police officer and ambulance personnel where this is necessary in order to effect an assessment for possible compulsory action under the Act. I believe that the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, will be speaking in greater detail about the amendment. I simply record my full support for it. I beg to move.