Mental Health Bill Report Stage: Amendment 40

Parliament voted on 14 October 2025 on Amendment 40 to the Mental Health Bill at Report Stage. The amendment would have required every care and treatment plan to include a formal assessment of the level of risk posed by the patient to public safety in the community. The amendment was defeated by 339 votes to 163. The vote decided whether a public safety risk assessment would become a legal requirement written into the Bill, rather than remaining a professional obligation under existing clinical guidance and standards. The amendment would have affected every detained or community patient subject to a care and treatment plan under the Mental Health Act. Its supporters argued it would close a gap between what clinicians are expected to do in practice and what the law actually requires them to do. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 294 Labour MPs and all 31 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted opposed the amendment. All 90 Conservatives and all 61 Liberal Democrats who voted supported it, joined by all six Reform UK MPs who voted, the three Democratic Unionist Party members, and the Ulster Unionist Party's single MP. The Greens voted against. Two independents voted for the amendment and seven against.