This House of Lords Library Briefing has been prepared in advance of the second reading in the House of Lords of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill on 7 September 2018.
Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (282 KB , PDF)
The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill is a private member’s bill introduced in the House of Commons by Steve Reed (Labour MP for Croydon North) and sponsored in the House of Lords by Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour). The Bill has Government support and completed its third reading in the House of Commons on 6 July 2018. The Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords on 9 July 2018, and is due to be considered at second reading on 7 September 2018. The Bill was introduced by Steve Reed following the death of his constituent Olaseni Lewis on 4 September 2010, who died after being restrained by police officers in a mental health unit. The Bill would make provision for increased oversight and management of the use of force in mental health units in England and Wales, and would require police officers to wear body cameras when attending mental health units.
This briefing summarises the Bill’s provisions, the policy background, and the Bill’s House of Commons stages.
Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (282 KB , PDF)
The Hares (Closed Season) Bill [HL] would create a closed season during which it would be an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, injure or take any hare between 1 February to 30 September each year. It would also repeal the Hares Preservation Act 1892.
![Hares (Close Season) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 52 of 2024–25](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Agriculture-and-farming-568x426.png)
The bill aims to create a 'smoke-free generation' by banning tobacco sales to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, alongside other measures to tackle smoking and tobacco harms. It would also further regulate vaping, curbing its appeal to children, while enabling adult smokers to use vapes as a quitting tool. The bill is similar to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which fell at dissolution 2024.
In October 2024, a House of Lords committee published a post-legislative review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The committee argued that the legislation was no longer world-leading. It suggested developments worldwide had led to the UK falling behind internationally and that recent immigration legislation had limited the act’s support infrastructure for victims. It called on government policy to recognise the difference between migrants coming to the UK willingly and victims of trafficking.
