Mental Health Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for that endorsement. I hope that she recognises that it is an appropriate basis on which to operate, with all the caveats that I have mentioned. The noble Baroness asked about the magic number of one year. It is not really a magic number. As the noble Earl, Lord Howe, and the noble Baronesses Lady Murphy and Lady Barker, have said, it is our anticipation that, for many people, any form of deprivation of liberty, either because of infection, as the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, indicated, or because of other circumstances, will be for a short period of time. We have built in effective safeguards to trigger a review of that decision at appropriate points by the individual, those representing them or the care home. It is important that, as we train and deliver the process, people understand that that is what they should do. A lot of this is not necessarily in the Bill but in the good practice that will follow from it. A year seemed appropriate to us; it is a well known length of time, it is defined and it is clear. It is also a recognition that we are not looking to reassess too frequently people whose condition is ongoing but are trying to deal with them appropriately. A number of organisations have raised concerns that it will be a case of, ““When in doubt, go for12 months because 12 months is the maximum period available””. As I have indicated, a lot of that depends on the training, the code of practice and the approach that people take. I do not anticipate that we will see that happen except where absolutely necessary. Best interests assessors are critical to that process; their role is to ensure that that is done only where appropriate. The noble Baroness referred to a default period of a year covering people in a temporary state of confusion. That is categorically not what we anticipate. It is important to approach this from that point of view. The noble Earl, Lord Howe, raised an issue that runs through a number of the amendments before us regarding family members’ knowledge of the system. I hope that we will return to that theme when debating later groups of amendments and discuss how we make sure that those representing the individual, whether family members or others, can understand and get the information that they need to support the person appropriately. I think that we have the balance right. A maximum period of one year feels right to me. It is on the condition that this is not a default position and should be used only where appropriate. We anticipate seeing many cases where people’s deprivation of liberty will be for substantially shorter periods. As I have indicated, a lot of this depends on the code of practice, guidance and training that we offer. We intend to make sure that it is crystal clear. I hope that, on that basis, the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw the amendment.