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Digital

National Statistics
Publication, Part of

Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983 - England, 2006

National statistics, Accredited official statistics
Publication Date:
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Country, Regions, Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs), Ambulance Trusts
Date Range:
31 Mar 1999 to 31 Mar 2006

Summary

Between 31 March 1999 and 31 March 2006.

Following a continual rise from 925 in 1999 to a peak of 999 in 2000, the number of guardianship cases in force at the end of the year has since shown a slight decrease (2 per cent) to 979 in 2006.

The number of new cases for 2006 (451) has decreased by 41 per cent (187) compared with 1999 (638), and also showed a marginal decrease of 3 per cent.

Highlights

In the year to 31 March 2006

378 guardianship cases were closed and 451 new cases opened, resulting in 979 cases being open at the end of the year (increase by 1 per cent on 2005).

  • In almost all cases (99 per cent) guardianship was conferred on the local authority, with the remaining 1 per cent conferred on a named individual or organisation.
  • For case close during 2005-06 the average length of guardianship was 20 months. Of these cases 58 per cent were for over 6 months and 42 per cent were for 6 months or less. There was considerable variability in the average case length by Local Authority, ranging from 1 to 84 months.
  • The 451 new case opened in the year to 31 March 2006 are small in number (1 per cent) in comparison with the 46,700 formal detentions in hospital, under the Mental Health Act 1983, for 2004-05.

Resources

Last edited: 11 April 2018 4:16 pm