It was interesting to see passing comment in a BBC news article on broader policing issues, which referenced the Mental Health Act 1983. The article states, “Sir Mark [Rowley, Metropolitan Police Commissioner] also notes that the number of people being sectioned by police under the Mental Health Act has more than quadrupled since 2013.”
Whilst accepting the article is not quoting the Commissioner directly, I admit to wondering what precisely was meant by this claim and what the basis of it was?
- We know, for example, there is dispute about whether the police could or should claim to ‘section’ people – this terminology is not precise legal terminology from the Mental Health Act and to the extent we understand what we think “sectioned” means, it’s most usually reserved to the process of AMHPs making applications for MHA admission to hospital, supported by two doctors’ medical recommendations.
- That said, it’s occasionally heard more widely, including on occasion for police use of their powers under the Mental Health Act.
- Section 136 MHA is a police-only power but it’s not the only one there is: in addition, there are s35(10), s36(9) and s38(7) – all police-only powers to return some categories of MHA patients who have absconded.
- However, we rarely hear claims that someone was “sectioned” when it relates to returning patients who have already been admitted to hospital. It is for similar reasons, I’ve never heard someone re-detained under s18 or s138 MHA as being “sectioned”.
- And so for all these reasons, I assume when police officers refer to someone being “sectioned” they mean only those who are detained under s136 MHA – but I could be wrong in my assumption!
USE OF SECTION 136
Taking the assumption forward, though: did use of s136 MHA quadruple between 2013 and 2022? – not to my knowledge. It fact, it didn’t even double. Given the comment comes from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, did use of s136 MHA in London quadruple? – again, not to my knowledge or the available statistics.
Data on use of s136 MHA have never been brilliant: for example, the police and the NHS have never been able to agree on national usage of this power. The IPCC were the first to attempt to get to grips with police data, when they published a report in 2008. At that time, they concluded use of s136 MHA was around 18,500 per annum (with two-thirds of those removed to police custody as a Place of Safety).
- Official Home Office statistics on police use of s136 MHA do not go back as far as 2013. In the 2015/16 edition of the Police Powers bulletin, we first saw some ‘experimental statistics’ on police use of s136, which relied heavily on data gathered by the National Police Chiefs Council. At that point, it reported 26,907 detentions. It was 2016/17, before 136 data was no longer branded ‘experimental’ and it has been included annually since then.
- NHS Digital statistics on use of s136 does go back as far as 2013, however, the NHS reports only on occasions where a hospital was used as a Place of Safety under the Act so all occasions where police custody was used are missing. In 2013, a large number of people were still detained in police custody so that data also needs qualification by those using it. —
- 2013/14 – 17,003 (NHS Digital)
- 2014/15 – 19,403 (NHS)
- 2015/16 – 22,965 (NHS)
- 2016/17 – 26,328 detentions (police); 15,050 (NHS)
- 2017/18 – 29,662 (police); 16,539 (NHS)
- 2018/19 – 33,238 (police); 18,314 (NHS)
- 2019/20 – 34,243 (police); 18,665 (NHS)
- 2020/21 – 33,652 (police); 20,153 (NHS)
- 2021/22 – 36,594 (police); 20,875 (NHS).
If you access the Home Office data or the NHS Digital data, you can find spreadsheets for each year, and the Home Office breaks down use of the power by police force. Suffice to say, the numbers for London don’t show anything since 2016 which suggests a quadrupling in London since 2013. If you look at the some of the NPCC publications on this, you find that there were problems with Met Police submission to those informal figures. I remember reading the IPCC report in 2008 and noting in my mind that Met’s usage was around 20% of the national number. If that 20% proportion remained even roughly correct for 2013, we’d expect over 3,000 thousand detentions and that’s about what we saw – for 2021/22, with over 36,000 detentions nationally, we’d expect over 6,000 in London and there were just under.
So I remain unclear on what statistical basis this claim is made – but the point being made remains valid even if police use of s136 has more-or-less doubled: that the police are playing a increasing role in providing a de facto mental health crisis team service.
Winner of the President’s Medal, the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award
All opinions expressed are my own – they do not represent the views of any organisation. (c) Michael Brown, 2023
I try to keep this blog up to date, but inevitably over time, amendments to the law as well as court rulings and other findings from inquests and complaints processes mean it is difficult to ensure all the articles and pages remain current. Please ensure you check all legal issues in particular and take appropriate professional advice where necessary.
Government legislation website – www.legislation.gov.uk
Mental Health Cop 