Cash warning for Scottish proposals

A parliamentary committee has backed the Mental Health (Scotland)
Bill but has warned the Scottish executive to make sure there are
adequate funds to support it.

The bill brings forward many of the recommendations made by the
Millan Committee, which reviewed Scotland’s mental health law. It
includes simpler rules on compulsory detention and treatment of
people with mental disorders and more rights and safeguards for
them.

Margaret Smith, chairperson of the parliamentary health and
community care committee, welcomed the bill as a “step forward in
the way we care for people with mental disorders”. But she said
professionals and mental health service users had told the
committee that the costings of the bill could be inadequate. “If
more money is needed, we would urge the executive to revise the
figures,” Smith said. “A bill with as many good points as this one
deserves to be properly funded.”

The committee has also called on the executive “to develop adequate
age-appropriate services, including services for children who have
suffered abuse, as a matter of urgency”.