ABSTRACT
The Royal Commission had recommended that there should be a specific grant for capital development by local authorities. Several members continued the discussion about local authority services. The debate on the second reading of the Bill in the House of Lords provides interesting comparisons with the past. The Act repeals all previous lunacy, mental treatment and mental deficiency legislation, and provides a single code for all types of mental disorder. Local authority mental health services provided under section 28 of the National Health Service Act were to continue, and the Mental Health Act gives a statement of their powers at some length, including the provision of residential accommodation, the provision of centres for training and occupation, the appointment of mental welfare officers, the exercise of the functions of guardianship, and ‘the provision of any ancillary or supplementary services’ for the mentally disordered. Mental welfare officers were given powers of entry and inspection.
