Propose a change

Mental Health Act 1983

Write the words of this act the way you think they should read. Solon shows your change as a redline against the published text and pins it to that exact text, so it can never be applied to wording you did not see.

Change 1

What to do with it
As published

88 Patients absent from hospitals in England and Wales.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any person who, under section 18 above or section 138 below or under the said section 18 as applied by section 22 above, may be taken into custody in England and Wales may be taken into custody in, and returned to England and Wales from, Northern Ireland. (2) For the purposes of the enactments referred to in subsection (1) above in their application by virtue of this section, the expression “constable” includes an officer or constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. (3) For the purposes of the said enactments in their application by virtue of this section to Scotland or Northern Ireland, any reference to an approved mental health professionalshall be construed as including a reference— (a) in Scotland, to any mental health officer within the meaning of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003; (b) in Northern Ireland, to any approved social worker within the meaning of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. (4) This section does not apply to any person who is subject to guardianship.

Your change, as a redline

88 Patients absent from hospitals in England and Wales.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any person who, under section 18 above or section 138 below or under the said section 18 as applied by section 22 above, may be taken into custody in England and Wales may be taken into custody in, and returned to England and Wales from, Northern Ireland. (2) For the purposes of the enactments referred to in subsection (1) above in their application by virtue of this section, the expression “constable” includes an officer or constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. (3) For the purposes of the said enactments in their application by virtue of this section to Scotland or Northern Ireland, any reference to an approved mental health professionalshall be construed as including a reference— (a) in Scotland, to any mental health officer within the meaning of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003; (b) in Northern Ireland, to any approved social worker within the meaning of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. (4) This section does not apply to any person who is subject to guardianship.

One line that says what changes, such as "Halve the dog tax".

Who it helps, what it costs, what it fixes. It is what persuades people to support it.

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Think it through

Ask what your change would do, who would gain and who would bear a cost, and where something like it is already law. The assistant reads your draft as it stands, cites the law and the studies it finds, and takes no side. What you file stays yours.

Questions to start with
Think it through
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