GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION AND THE DRAFT MENTAL HEALTH BILL

Motion Text

That this House, welcomes the Government's proposals to ensure that future consultations are clear, concise and widely accessible; endorses the decision to guarantee that policy makers give proper feedback regarding the responses received; believes that total transparency in the course of an inquiry is essential; regrets the fact that the Government has failed to publish the 2,000 plus responses to the Draft Mental Health Bill submitted in September 2002; believes the Government is undermining the confidence of voluntary bodies and the public alike through shrouding the responses to the consultation in secrecy; and calls for all responses to the Draft Mental Health Bill to be published immediately as a clear sign of the Government's commitment to follow its new proposals.