Whether after-care services provided to formerly detained psychiatric patients under s117 Mental Health Act 1983, including accommodation, are to be provided free under that section, or whether it was a gateway to services provided under other statutes for which charges are to be made - R v LB Richmond ex p W; R v Redcar and Cleveland BC ex p A; R v Manchester City Council ex p S; R v LB Harrow ex p C [1999] MHLR 149
Points Arising: Aftercare services provided to patients to whom s117 Mental Health Act 1983 applies are provided under that section (rather than it being a gateway to provision under other community care statutes) and so (i) the charging provisions of community care statutes do not apply and (ii) the absence of a charging provision means that they have to be provided free.
Facts and Outcome: In linked cases raising as a point of law whether aftercare services (in the form of residential accommodation – including that where people were required to live by the terms of a guardianship order imposed on leaving hospital) provided by reason of s117 Mental Health Act 1983 could be charged for on the basis that s117 was merely a gateway to services actually provided under s21 National Assistance Act 1948 (for which means-tested charging was obligatory), it was held that s117 imposed a free-standing obligation to provide aftercare and that no charges could be imposed for them.