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Mental Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, we support the amendments moved by the noble Earl for the reasons that he has given. I simply want to remind the House of Chapter 5 of the report of the joint scrutiny committee. We heard a great deal of evidence about community treatment orders. As paragraph 205 of Volume 1 of our report records, on balance, we came down in favour of limited compulsion in the community. We heard a great deal of evidence from both home and abroad, and we invite the Government to take the view that the amendments provide an appropriate restriction on a power which, we on the committee fear, might become overused as a substitute for residential compulsory treatment.