Mental Health Act – changes afoot!

After the flurry of excitement on 18 December 2025 when the Mental Health Act 2025 gained Royal Assent  we have the next development.

On 6 April there will be an important change.

The Mental Health Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2026 bring into force sections 51 and 52 of the 2025 Act.

Human Rights Act amendment to the Mental Health Act 1983

Section 51

Section 51 of the 2025 Act inserts section 142C into the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA).

Section 142C extends the remit of the Human Rights Act 1998 to private sector care providers in certain circumstances.

It requires them to act compatibly with the Convention rights as set out in the Human Rights Act 1998, when providing services as set out in section 142C(2) of the 1983 Act:

1. Section 117 aftercare
2. services provided for care and support (which can include residence) for a person with a mental disorder either in hospital or in the community, by local authorities in Scotland
3. the provision of medical treatment or assessment for a mental disorder in an in-patient hospital setting where arranged/paid for by an NHS body 

This places an extra layer of statutory obligation on private sector care providers where they are undertaking the above functions of a public nature - stand by for possible Judicial Review claims.

Review of CQC Regulations

Section 52

Currently Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) (Registration) Regulations 2009 (Duty to Notify Incidents) contains a statutory duty setting which provides  that the CQC must be notified where a person under the age of 18 is placed in an adult psychiatric unit for longer than a continuous period of 48 hours.

Section 52 of the 2025 Act now places a statutory duty on the Secretary of State (SoS) to carry out a review into whether:

• Regulation 18 ought to be extended to require notification to be given in ‘any other cases’ in which a person under the age of 18 is admitted to hospital for medical treatment or for assessment of a mental disorder, and 
• the current 48-hour time period for notification remains appropriate.
  The SoS must prepare a report setting out their conclusions of the review. This must be laid before Parliament and published by the end of the period of two years beginning on the day that the 2025 Act was passed.

This change could result in CQC oversight and scrutiny taking place in circumstances where a young person has been placed in any in-patient mental health setting and could impact on the detention of minors.

We may have to wait until December 2027 to find out though.

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