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The Mental Health Bill has received Royal Assent to modernise outdated mental health laws and improve care for seriously ill patients.

Patients with severe mental illness are to be better protected thanks to landmark new legislation. 

The new Mental Health Act has received Royal Assent, meaning it is now law, delivering on a key manifesto commitment.

It will reform the outdated Mental Health Act of 1983, which provides the legal framework to detain and treat people in a mental health crisis who are at risk of harm to themselves or others. 

The modernised Act will implement urgent reforms which experts have been calling for almost a decade, bringing mental health care into the 21st century and empowering patients to take charge of their treatment. 

It will support NHS staff to provide more personalised care for those who need it.  

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

For too long, thousands of vulnerable people in mental health crises have been failed by outdated laws that stripped away their dignity and voice. 

The new Mental Health Act will transform lives by putting patients back in control of their care, tackling the unacceptable disparities that have seen black people detained at disproportionately high rates, and giving NHS staff the tools to deliver care that truly helps people recover.

This delivers on our manifesto commitment to finally bring mental health care into the 21st century. After years of neglect, we are rebuilding a mental health system to treat people with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Baroness Merron, Minister for Mental Health, said:

It has been a privilege to guide this landmark Bill through Parliament on behalf of thousands of patients and families who have campaigned for change.

These reforms address longstanding injustices in our mental health system. Patients will now have a genuine say in their treatment through statutory Care and Treatment Plans. Families will be properly involved in decisions. And we’re tackling the unacceptable racial disparities that have seen Black people detained at over three times the rate of white people.

Today we’re delivering the modernisation that patients, families and clinicians have been calling for.

For years, patients have been let down by a mental health system that needs urgent reform. Those detained under the Mental Health Act have had too little say over their care and treatment and who should be involved in it. 

Black people are 3.5 times more likely to be detained than their white counterparts. Autistic people and those with learning disabilities who don’t have a mental health condition have been often inappropriately detained.

Steve Gilbert OBE, who was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder after being sectioned in 2010, is a national expert in Living Experience Leadership who has spent over a decade improving mental health services with a focus on racial equity. As Vice Chair for the Mental Health Act Review, he supported the chair in making recommendations to the Government. 

Steve Gilbert OBE, Vice-Chair of the Mental Health Act Review said: 

The Mental Health Act has profoundly impacted my life and that of my family. 

While detention was deemed necessary, it stripped us of dignity and caused long-term trauma, a reality shared by many. 

When I accepted the invitation to be Vice Chair of the MHA Review, I aimed to ensure these experiences would guide our efforts to increase access to care, enhance experiences, and improve outcomes for vulnerable individuals, especially those from Black communities.

As we celebrate the Royal Assent of the Bill, I thank all those who have worked to translate our report into the new act.

I pay tribute to the thousands of service users, carers and professionals who shared their stories. Special recognition goes to the 12 members of the Service User Carer Group who worked diligently to lay the groundwork for an act that ensures dignity, autonomy and therapeutic benefit. Thank you, you are true change makers!

The new Mental Health Act will ensure patients have stronger rights and greater control over their treatment through new statutory Care and Treatment Plans. Families and carers will have more involvement in decisions around treatment, giving them a real say in supporting their loved ones.

Racial disparities in treatment will be addressed through clearer guidance for mental health professionals.

The Act will also strengthen the rights of children and young people to make their wishes and feelings more central to decision making, ensuring they, and those close to them, are consulted and involved where appropriate with decisions around their care and treatment.   

Furthermore, courts will no longer be able to detain someone in prison as a place of safety whilst they wait for a hospital bed for treatment or assessment under the Mental Health Act to become available.

Dr Adrian James, Medical Director for Mental Health and Neurodiversity at NHS England, said: 

The new Mental Health Act is a major step towards ensuring that people in mental health crises get care that is safe, effective and centred on their needs. 

It will give every detained patient a real say in their treatment and a timely care plan, with any period of detention focused on therapeutic benefit and kept as short as possible.  

This reform comes alongside real improvements already under way across the NHS in England, from earlier support for young people in schools, expanding 24/7 crisis services, and piloting Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres so people can get support close to home. Together, all of these measures will help people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

The Mental Health Act implements reforms proposed by Sir Simon Wessely in his landmark Independent Review of the Mental Health Act in 2018. Sir Simon is a Chair of Psychological Medicine at King’s College London and a world-leading figure in the field.

Sir Simon’s report flagged four key principles that needed to be reformed in the Mental Health Act, including giving patients more choice over their care and ensuring the Act’s powers are used in the least restrictive way possible.

The government is now starting to develop the detailed guidance on the new Act before it comes into force.

Sir Simon Wessely FRS GBE, Chair of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London said:

When I chaired the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, I met a service user who told me that she was certain that being sectioned had saved her life, but she added ‘why was it such a terrible experience?’ - why indeed. 

Our Review proposed giving patients more of a say over their care, to ensure they were treated with greater dignity and respect, but without jeopardising the safety of others.

I am delighted that the Mental Health Act 2025 provides a crucial step to achieving those aims. As public attitudes towards mental illness have shifted, so must the law. And today it has. So this is a good moment for me to thank the many campaigners, clinicians and brave individuals with lived experience of the Act who made this possible.

Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson said:

This landmark legislation marks a turning point for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

A prison cell is never the right place for someone in an acute mental health crisis. That’s why we’re ending the use of jail for these individuals and ensuring people receive the urgent, specialist care they need instead.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Minister Sarah Murphy said:

This groundbreaking legislation will significantly improve the care given to people when they are in mental health crisis. 

It will strengthen their voice over their own treatment and protect them from harm when they are most vulnerable. 

The Bill supports the rights-based approach we are taking to mental health support in Wales, as set out in our 10-year Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. ”We have been working closely with UK Government on this legislation and are glad to see it receiving Royal Assent.

The Bill is one of many ways the government is transforming mental health care.

Through the 10 Year Health Plan, we are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers - with over 7,000 recruited in a year - delivering more talking therapies, rolling out more mental health support teams in schools and colleges, and providing better access to help through the NHS App. 

We are also investing an additional £473 million in mental health infrastructure by 2030 to modernise facilities, expand neighbourhood mental health services and increase crisis care capacity to prevent people reaching the point of needing to be detained as we shift the focus from hospital to community. 

Together, these actions will build an NHS that is fit for the future so that it can provide the right mental health support to the right people at the right time.