Mental Health Bill receives Royal Assent

On 18 December 2025, the Mental Health Bill received Royal Assent and became law as the Mental Health Act 2025 (‘the Act’), marking a major reform of the UK’s mental health legal framework. 

Key points

The Act amends and replaces key provisions of the outdated Mental Health Act 1983, the legislation used to detain and treat people in a mental health crisis. This is considered the most significant reform of mental health law in decades. The changes are part of broader government commitments, including the 10 Year Health Plan, to expand community mental health support, crisis services, and early interventions, reducing the need for detention.

The previous legislation, the Mental Health Act 1983, had been in place for over 40 years with only limited reform. Critics argued it no longer reflected modern understanding of mental health, patient rights, or best clinical practice.

With this being the case, the Act aims to modernise the framework by giving patients stronger rights, more say over their care, and enhanced involvement of families and carers where appropriate. 

 Four core principles are provided to guide all decisions under the Act:

Core changes for care settings

There are several core changes that are likely to affect those providing care to vulnerable individuals. Organisations need to be aware of these changes which are set out as follows: 

• Increased protections for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
• Introduction of a new statutory role of ‘nominated person’ rather than ‘nearest relative’ to represent them.
• There will be a greater focus on the rights of children and young people, ensuring their views and wishes (and those close to them) are considered in decisions about treatment.
• Statutory care and treatment plans for all patients formally detained under the Act. Non-statutory advance choice documents, to record a person’s wishes, feelings and decisions about their care and treatment.
• A requirement for the Responsible Clinician to consult with another professional concerned with the patient’s treatment before discharge.
• Amended criteria for detention to offer further protections which ensure people can only be detained if they pose a risk of serious harm to themselves or others.
• Mechanisms to tackle racial disparities in detention and in treatment through clearer guidance for mental health professionals.
• Removal of prison cells as ‘places of safety’ while people wait for appropriate treatment.
• Enhanced accessibility to the First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health) 

What does the new law mean? 

Organisations such as local authorities, registered providers of social housing, and care providers could expect:

• A greater focus on multi-agency working
• More detailed care and treatment plans that involve both the individual and their families
• This increases the importance of data collection, equality impact assessments and competent services.
• Reduced use of police/prison services, meaning councils will need to work closely with NHS partners to ensure appropriate places of safety are available.
• Increased pressure on staff training, safeguarding procedures and incident management.
• Risk of enforcement action if standards slip and greater focus from the CQC.

Next steps

The Bill is likely to take some time to move through the legislative process and this will allow services adequate time to prepare for its implementation. The government has indicated that secondary legislation and a revised Code of Practice will be developed to support interpretation of the new legal framework.

Organisations should be aware of the core changes and how these may affect services, the risks of non-compliance and the likely cost to understand the new legislation. We will keep you updated as and when developments occur.