Mental Health Treatment Requirements: Guidance on Supporting Integrated Delivery

The Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) is one of three possible treatment requirements which may be made part of a Community Order.1 The MHTR is intended for the sentencing of offenders convicted of an offence(s) which is below the threshold for a custodial sentence and who have a mental health problem which does not require secure in-patient treatment.

There is a low uptake nationally of the MHTR, comprising less than 1% of all requirements of orders.2 This is despite evidence which shows the incidence of mental health problems among offenders is known to be higher than in the general population.3 Engagement with practitioners has identified a number of issues which are seen as potential or real obstacles to the MHTR being used more effectively in supporting offenders being diverted from custody, thus positively impact on reoffending.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012, made changes to the mental health assessment process for MHTRs. Advice was first issued by NOMS to Probation Trusts on the LASPO changes in 2012 and this advice paper is incorporated into this document.
This (non-statutory) guidance seeks to provide support to service commissioning and provider agencies so that appropriate mental health service provision and inter-agency partnerships enable MHTR delivery locally.

Guidance is given on the roles, responsibilities and contributions of the agencies involved in the commissioning and delivery of the MHTR, specifically:

  • Sentencers
  • Health Agencies
  • Mental Health Assessment
  • Probation Providers

The complexities of inter-agency roles, contributions, responsibilities and relationships necessary to deliver MHTRs effectively are addressed and clarified. A series of flow diagrams with accompanying narrative can be found in Annex A to graphically represent the interactions and roles of those involved in the provision and delivery of MHTR services and supervision.

The guidance reflects the changes to responsibility for probation services in England and Wales from 2014 resulting from the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation reforms and the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014. Information on who to contact for further information is also included.