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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Iain McKinnonORCiD, Dr Patrick Keown
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The Mental Health Bill, 2025, proposes to remove autism and learning disability from the scope of Section 3 of the Mental Health Act, 1983. The present article represents a professional and carer consensus statement which raises concerns and identifies likely unintended consequences if this proposal becomes law. Our concerns relate to the lack of clear mandate for such proposals, conceptual inconsistency when considering other conditions which might give rise to a need for detention, and the inconsistency in applying such changes to Part II of the MHA but not Part III. If the proposed changes become law, we anticipate that detentions would instead occur under the less safeguarded framework of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005, and that unmanaged risks will eventuate in behavioural consequences which will lead to a larger number of autistic people or people with learning disability being sent to prison. We express concerns about the quality and regulation of existing community support structures and specialist services. More generally, there is a concern that the proposed definitional breadth of autism and learning disability gives rise to a risk that people with other conditions, or people with autism or learning disability and another co-occurring condition, may unintentionally be excluded from the scope of Section 3 of the Mental Health Act, 1983. We strongly urge Parliament to amend this portion of the Bill prior to it becoming law.
Author(s): Beazley P, Alexander R, Taylor J, Velani B, Dewson H, Shankar R, Tromans S, Odiyoor M, Hassiotis A, Roy A, McKinnon I, Zia A, Strydom A, Keown P, Perera B, Khan M, McCarthy J, Butler M, Chester V, Fitton L, Chiu K, Bew A, Lane T, Gay T, Gay B
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry
Year: 2025
Pages: Epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 01/07/2025
Acceptance date: 20/05/2025
Date deposited: 01/07/2025
ISSN (print): 0007-1250
ISSN (electronic): 1472-1465
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2025.10324
DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2025.10324
Data Access Statement: Data availability is not applicable to this article because no new data were created or analysed in this study.
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