Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 gives free aftercare to people discharged after detention under section 3 and certain other sections. The council and the NHS must fund services that meet needs arising from the mental disorder; the person must not be charged for them.
Councils still charge people unlawfully. Kent County Council repaid £17,368.50 after charging a woman for residential care from 2002 to 2021 when she was entitled to free section 117 aftercare. In October 2025 the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found a council and NHS policy at fault where it “provided contradictory information about Section 117 and accommodation”. If you or a relative pay for care after detention, the charges may be recoverable. We check entitlement and claim the money back.
What can Section 117 cover?
In a care and support plan we would ensure that it covers where a person is going to live, what support they will need such as help with making meals, shopping and doing the laundry, support with meeting friends and recreational activities.
Section 117 is one of the few areas where there is a joint responsibility for both the NHS and the Local Authority to make sure that whoever has been detained leaves hospital with a package of care that is going to ensure that the likelihood of readmission to hospital is minimised and the quality of their life is enhanced to the maximum extent possible.
In our experience Section 117 Aftercare is often overlooked both by the hospital, minimised by the Local Authority who have to pay for it, and is unknown by almost everyone we speak to.
At Steene Law when we initially speak to people we ask whether they remember when they were growing up if there were periods in their parents’ life when they were absent and if they mention they thought there was some psychiatric issue, often we are able to obtain evidence there was instance that gave rise to the Section 117 rights.
One client who we discovered that their family member had these rights, and we got a £60,000 per annum package of care wrote……
The service was personal and went well beyond the call of duty, demonstrating clearly that, although acting at all times to the highest standards of professional practice, this was a labour of love.
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