Mental Health Act 2025
Mental Health Act 2025
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Overview of the Act
Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.
The Mental Health Act 2025 (the "Act)" contains a number of amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 (the "1983 Act)".
The measures in the Act are generally intended to strengthen the voice of patients subject to the 1983 Act. They add statutory weight to patients’ rights to be involved in planning for their care, and to inform choices regarding the treatment they receive. The reforms will increase the scrutiny of detention to ensure it is only used when, and as long, as necessary. The Act also seeks to limit the use of the 1983 Act to detain people with a learning disability and autistic people.
The Act is arranged under fourteen headings: Code of Practice Autism and learning disability Grounds for detention and community treatment orders Appropriate medical treatment The responsible clinician Treatment Community treatment orders Nominated persons Detention periods Periods for applications and references Discharge: process Patients concerned in criminal proceedings or under sentence Help and information for patients After-care Miscellaneous General
Type: UK Public General Act
Year and chapter: 2025 c. 33
Royal Assent: 2025-12-18
Last ingested: 2026-06-12 from legislation.gov.uk. Acts commence section by section — check the official text for commencement orders.