Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill — Training in Appropriate Use of Force — Role of the Police — 15 Jun 2018 at 13:45

The majority of MPs voted against requiring those providing NHS treatment to in-patients for mental disorders to be trained, in relation to the use of force, on "the roles, responsibilities and procedure in the event of police involvement".

MPs were considering the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill^[1].

The amendment rejected in this vote was:

• Amendment 11, page 4, line 18, at end insert—
• “(l) the roles, responsibilities and procedure in the event of police involvement,”.

The rejected amendment would have impacted Clause 5 of the Bill^[2] which was titled: Training in appropriate use of force. The clause provided that: "The responsible person for each mental health unit must provide training for staff that relates to the use of force by staff who work in that unit." The amendment sought to add to the list of topics which that training must include.

A mental health unit was defined in Clause 1 of the Bill^[3] as:

• a health service hospital, or part of a health service hospital, in England, the purpose of which is to provide treatment to in-patients for mental disorder,

or

• an independent hospital, or part of an independent hospital, in England—
• (i) the purpose of which is to provide treatment to in-patients for mental disorder, and
• (ii) where at least some of that treatment is provided, or is intended to be provided, for the purposes of the NHS.

No explanatory statement accompanied the rejected amendment.^[4]

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill
• [2] Clause 5 of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill as amended in committee. 30 April 2018
• [3] Clause 1 of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill as amended in committee. 30 April 2018
• [4] Page of amendment sheet containing the rejected amendment 11, Parliament.uk website, Dated: Revised 14 June 2018

Debate in Parliament |