Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to change the closest living relative definition in the Mental Health Act 1983 to include unmarried fathers once their children are aged 18.

Alistair Burt

One of the aims set out in the Green Paper, No voice unheard, no right ignored – a consultation for people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health conditions, published in March 2015, is to ensure people’s ‘nearest relative’ under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) is someone who is meaningful to them. We have no plans to specifically change the nearest relative definition in the MHA to include unmarried fathers once their children are aged over 18 years.

This will ensure that people are able to choose their own ‘nearest relative’, who has specific legal responsibilities under the MHA. The current MHA definition of the nearest relative will be updated to be used as a default if necessary, when the person is unable to make a choice for some reason.