Mental Health Act 2007 Overview

The full text of the Act is available from this page: Mental Health Act 2007. See also: Mental Health Act 2007 Explanatory Notes.

The Mental Health Act 2007 was given Royal Assent on 19 July 2007. The main implementation date was 3 November 2008. See Mental Health Bill 2006 for some background information, and Mental Health Act 1983 Overview and Mental Capacity Act 2005 Overview for further details. Amendments made to the Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity Act 2005 by the 2007 Act are incorporated into the text on this site.

The effect of the Act

The amendments

The major amendments made by the 2007 Act are listed below. Each page contains a summary of the change, when it comes into force, and an extract from the Mental Health Act 2007 Explanatory Notes where appropriate.

Professional roles:

Approved Mental Health Professional replaces Approved Social Worker 3/11/08

Responsible Clinician/Approved Clinician replaces Responsible Medical Officer 3/11/08

New regulations on conflicts of interest 3/11/08

New procedure for renewal of detention 3/11/08

Community Treatment Orders:

Supervised Community Treatment replaces Supervised Discharge 3/11/08

Definition of mental disorder:

Treatability test:

Nearest relative:

Treatment safeguards:

Code of Practice:

Children:

Criminal clients:

Mental Health Review Tribunal:

Automatic reference scheme under s68 changed 3/11/08
Organisation of Mental Health Review Tribunal changed 3/11/08 (partially)

Wales:

Mental Capacity Act 2005:

Misc:

The Acts which are amended

The 2007 Act will amend or has amended:

the Mental Health Act 1983 - all the proposed amendments can be read on this site, alongside the current law

the Mental Capacity Act 2005 - only some of the proposed amendments have been added to this site, but all in force amendments listed on this page have been added

the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004

More minor amendments are made to various other enactments.

Implementation of the Act

Implementation plan

DH commencement plan - This document lists each section of the 2007 Act and the date on which it is intended that the section will come into force. Updated on 9 May 2008.

NHS Confederation Briefing: Implementing the Mental Health Act 2007: What boards need to know and do - Sept 2008, published on CSIP website 23/10/08.

Some of the commencement orders have associated guidance documents and these can be located on the commencement order pages. For guidance documents on transitional arrangements, please see Transitional provisions until full implementation of MHA 2007.

Commencement orders

See the individual pages below for details of which MHA 1983 sections are affected by each Commencement Order.

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2007 The provisions around NHS Foundation Trusts (section 45 MHA 2007) came into force on 24/7/07.

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2007 1/10/07 - fixing minor drafting error in MCA 2005

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2007 1/10/07, 1/12/07, 1/1/08 - various provisions: approval of courses etc for approved mental health professionals; amendment to section 62 of Care Standards Act 2000; cross-border arrangements; time-limited restriction orders; conditionally discharged patients subject to limitation directions; offence of ill-treatment: increase in maximum penalty on conviction on indictment; local health boards; independent mental capacity advocacy service: exceptions; civil partners (1/12/07); information admission of patients aged 16 and 17 (1/1/08)

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 4) Order 2008 1/4/08 - (1) some provisions for the purpose only of making regulations; (2) others relating to: regulations as to approvals in relation to England and Wales; approved mental health professionals; conflicts of interest; independent mental health advocates; authority to treat; cross-border arrangements; Welsh Ministers: procedure for instruments; consequential provisions; (3) amendments to MCA 2005

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2008 30/4/08 - amending s135 and s136 re places of safety

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 6 and After-care under Supervision: Savings, Modifications and Transitional Provisions) Order 2008 3/11/08, 4/5/09 - SCT

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 7 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2008 3/11/08 - most of the rest of the Act

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2008 3/11/08

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 9) Order 2008 28/10/08 - cross-border arrangements

Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 10 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2009 — In force 1/4/09. This order brings into force the provisions in relation to IMHAs for England (they are already in force in Wales). It also commences the deprivation of liberty safeguards, and introduces transitional provisions: provided the applications are received on or before 30/4/09, 42 days (instead of 21) are allowed for completing assessments for a standard authorisation, and urgent authorisations last for 21 days (instead of 7); urgent authorisations given on or before 30/4/09 cannot be extended.
Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 11) Order 2010 — This order brings new s131A (Accommodation, etc for children) into force from 1/4/10. It applies to patients under 18 who are liable to be detained under the MHA or admitted informally. The hospital managers must ensure that the patient's environment is suitable having regard to his age (subject to his needs); they must consult a person with knowledge or experience of such cases. SI 2010/143.

Updates

Check these sites for news of updates:

Statute Law Database: search results for "Mental Health Act" - for recent commencement orders etc.

Department of Health: "Mental Health Act 2007 - commencement orders, regulations, and other secondary legislation" page

Care Services Improvement Partnership News/Update Bulletins - Final update (number 12) published on March 2009. This is a link to the archived content of the website.