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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Health and Health Services and Social Welfare) Order 2010

I beg to move that the Committee considers the draft National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Health and Health Services and Social Welfare) Order 2010. The order has been approved by the National Assembly for Wales and was approved by the other place last week. The order is commonly known as the mental health order and is being brought forward by Jonathan Morgan, the Conservative Assembly Member for Cardiff North. As well as the Welsh Assembly Government, Back-Bench Assembly Members and Assembly committees are able to bring forward proposed legislative competence orders. The Government are committed to progressing Assembly Member LCOs that have the support of the Welsh Assembly Government. This LCO has the full support of Welsh Ministers. I am sure that the Committee will welcome the ability of Assembly Members to bring forward proposals for devolving legislative competence in this way. It demonstrates the flexibility of the system that we put in place under the Government of Wales Act 2006. The draft LCO before us today devolves legislative competence in relation to mental health. Specifically, it inserts two new matters into Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act 2006: matter 9.2 in Field 9, the health and health services field, and matter 15.10 in Field 15, the social welfare field. These matters will enable the Assembly to legislate in relation to the assessment of mental health, the treatment of mental disorder and social care services connected to mental health. I want to be absolutely clear that competence does not extend to people subject to, or likely to be subject to, compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act 1983, except in relation to independent advocacy. Nor does it allow the Assembly to amend the provisions relating to compulsory treatment, or the definition of mental disorder contained in the 1983 Act. The devolution of competence in relation to mental health has cross-party support in the National Assembly. The then First Minister, the right honourable Rhodri Morgan, announced the intention to bring forward legislation using the competence conferred via this LCO when he set out the Welsh Assembly Government’s legislative programme for 2009-10 last July. The Assembly Government’s strategy for mental health services in Wales was published in 2001. That strategy’s implementation is supported by a national service framework, which sets standards for mental health services in Wales. A key aim of the framework is to drive up the quality of services and ensure that they are delivered consistently and comprehensively across Wales. The Assembly Government believe that the right to early assessment, and extending rights of access to advocacy services, are consistent with the framework. They wish in particular to impose a specific, comprehensive duty on service providers in respect of the assessment and treatment of mental disorders so that fewer individuals become subject to compulsion. Welsh Ministers also wish to provide wide-ranging and comprehensive advocacy services to those suffering from a mental disorder. Like all LCOs, the draft order before us today was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the House’s Constitution Committee, by the Welsh Affairs Committee and the Committee of the National Assembly.