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These initiatives were driven by Lord Meston, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Meston has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Meston has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
We agree that it is right to focus on improving the practical application of Gillick and the assessments of competency. We have already committed to consulting on the guidance for assessing competence in mental health settings in the revised Mental Health Act Code of Practice, with the intention to provide further clarity to decision makers. This will include engagement with key stakeholders and clinical decision makers with experience of assessing competence in children.
As part of this, we can look to summarise and explain what case law has said on how competence should be assessed, including Re S (Wardship: Removal to Ghana). It remains our position that we would not consider a statutory test in the Mental Health Act.
The Government welcomes the Civil Justice Council review of litigation funding, which will help inform the approach to potential reforms. We will outline next steps in due course.