Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has consulted people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 on proposals by the Tribunal Procedure Committee to give First-Tier Mental Health Tribunals the power to take decisions without an oral hearing where a patient has been automatically referred to a tribunal.

When the Tribunal Procedure Committee published the consultation, it was sent to key mental health organisations including MIND, Rethink, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Mental Health Foundation and Mental Health UK so they could consider the proposals and reflect the experience of those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

The Ministry of Justice has not carried out such an assessment of the Committee’s proposal to abolish pre-hearing examinations but awaits the outcome of the consultation. If the Committee decides to make any changes to the rules, the Lord Chancellor will consider the potential impact of those changes before deciding whether to allow the proposed changes to be implemented.