Health secretary John Reid has said that while the Mental Health Bill was not included in the Queen's Speech, a draft bill will be put before MPs "as soon as possible".

Tim Yeo, shadow health secretary, said: "Tim Yeo MP, said: "Although we have repeated said that the government's Draft Mental Health Bill is not the answer, we desperately need an update to the 1959 and 1983 Mental Health legislation.

"Unfortunately, it appears that the Mental Health Bill has become the victim of the turf war between the Home Office and the Health Department.

"We fear that the failure to introduce a Mental Health Bill will heighten the stigma faced by people with mental health problems. We need legislation to protect their rights as well as access to treatment.

"We also fear that the lack of a Bill will mean that Mental Health remains a poor relation to the rest of the NHS.

"We remain worried that the government's concentration on new structures such as Crisis Resolution Teams and Early Intervention Teams is very patchy in practice and has drained diverted resources and scarce professionals from core services.

"The Conservative Party, working with an alliance of mental health professionals, will aim to put forward its own Mental Health Bill as a Private Member's Bill which will build on the best parts of the government's Draft Bill but will the drop the measures on coercion."

Forum Response: SANE

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: "We have campaigned for many years for reform and update of mental health legislation to achieve a better balance of rights between individuals with mental illness, families and carers, and the community.

"We hope the government will honour their commitment and bring forward a new Mental Health Bill which focuses on the positive rights of patients and families rather than extending compulsion.

"Already overpressed and depleted mental health professionals must not be diverted into underpinning laws of coercion instead of giving essential care and treatment.

"We particularly wish to see families and carers no longer kept in the dark and cold but given rights to information to match the critical responsibilities they are so often left to bear."

Forum Response: Age Concern

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern England, said: "The absence of this long-overdue Bill is a devastating blow to thousands, even millions of people, who cannot make decisions for themselves because of illness, injury or disability.

"Vulnerable people remain unprotected, despite 14 years of campaigning and 6 years of consultation. They are left without the prospect of a legal framework in England and Wales. So their views and preferences could be ignored by people making decisions about their personal welfare.

"We urge the government to reconsider its decision and make a commitment to introducing this Bill in this Parliamentary session to benefit some of society's most defenceless people."

Forum Response: Royal College of Psychiatrists

Dr Tony Zigmond, vice president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told ePolitix.com: "We hope that the provisions in the new bill will be very significantly changed, particularly the definition of mental disorder and the criteria for compulsion.

"We are pleased to see that the new proposals will be put to pre-legislative scrutiny, to enable Parliament to produce an in-depth analysis of the proposals."

Forum Response: Depression Alliance

Jim Thomson, chief executive of the Depression Alliance, told ePolitix.com: "Depression Alliance campaigned vigorously to ensure that the draft Mental Health Bill 2002 was withdrawn.

"The charity feared that the proposed legislation was unfair, unworkable, highly stigmatising and would contravene Articles Three and Five of the European Convention on Human Rights.

"However, Depression Alliance was surprised that a reformed Mental Health Bill was not included in this year's Queen's Speech and is now seeking clarification from the government on its proposed course of action with regards to plans for future mental health legislation.

"It will be difficult for anyone involved in mental health to plan ahead until this matter is resolved but we are pleased to note the health minister's commitment to working with stakeholders to get the bill right.

"Currently people affected by mental health problems receive inadequate care due to a lack of community psychiatric services with thousands of people having to fall back on primary care.

"Without massive extra resources, any new legislation will fail in its objective of protecting good mental health.

"We welcome the health secretary's commitment to extra resources and support Dr Louis Appleby's (the National Clinical Director for Mental Health) recent calls for greater transparency in how that money is spent."

Forum Response: Royal College of Nursing

Dr Beverley Malone, general secretary of the RCN, said: "Although the RCN was disappointed that the Queen's Speech did not contain a new Mental Health Bill, we hope its exclusion means the government is reconsidering its earlier proposals that were unrealistic and unworkable.

"The RCN urges the government to work with service users and clinicians and bring forward proposals to provide good quality mental health services that are safe and increase access for patients.

"The RCN is also concerned that a Mental Incapacity Bill was not announced which we believe would strengthen the protection of vulnerable people."