Scottish committee warns of funding needs

A Parliamentary committee has given its full support to 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, set up to review Scotland’s mental health law,
including simplification of the rules surrounding compulsory
detention and treatment of people with mental disorders. It will
also give people with mental disorders rights and safeguards.

Although Margaret Smith MSP, the convener of the Health and
Community Care Committee, welcomed the bill as a “significant
step forward in the way we care for people with mental
disorders”, she added that the committee had heard evidence
from a number of concerned professionals and mental health service
users that the budgeted 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”.