ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide an overview of recent mental health policy and legislation in England and Wales. We begin by exploring the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards ‘care in the community’ in the second part of the twentieth century and the subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high-profile offences by those with a mental disorder in the 1990s. The chapter then considers recent policy under the New Labour (1997–2010), Conservative-Liberal Democrats coalition (2010–2015) and current Conservative (2015–) governments. We end the chapter by considering some key and current developments relating to mentally disordered offenders, paying particular attention to the progress that has been made since the Bradley report (Department of Health, 2009), the impact of austerity on the ambition to create a ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health care, and recent Conservative government proposals to reform the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 (as amended by the MHA 2007). For more information about current policy and practice in relation to policing, courts, prisons, secure mental health services and the community, the reader is advised to consult Chapters 4–7 of the book.
