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Mental Health Bill [Lords]

The hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier) may have been referring to a recent meeting we attended with the Minister and some psychiatrists she had invited to the House. When I raised the existing section 25A orders under the 1983 Act, I was told that there are powers that allow people to go back to the community, but with the threat that if, for example, they come off their medication, they can be taken to a hospital—usually by the police. A psychiatrist told us, quite flippantly, that the powers were rarely implemented because the police do not want to co-operate. It is scandalous that powers on the statute book that could be used effectively are not being implemented.