Member

It is very important that capacity is properly assessed. We have heard about the difficulties with the Mental Capacity Act. We have to know that someone really does retain the information throughout, or if they have not retained it, that it is re-explained to them. We have to ensure that this whole point of capacity is seriously addressed. I am not casting doubts on the seriousness of those who put these proposals forward, or the proponents of the Bill, but I suggest to this House that on the issue of capacity, the Mental Capacity Act is not the right Act. We have heard from the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, who has looked at this from the perspective of the operation of the courts, and from distinguished psychiatrists and other practitioners that there is a real issue here. It may be that we, or at least the lawyers, know what the Act means and how it works, but something has to be done on that issue. It was not designed for this. It presumes capacity and explicitly safeguards or allows unwise decisions. You can make an unwise decision when you have capacity; I probably make them every day, but I hope that people would not doubt my capacity.