The House of Lords Committee appointed to consider and report on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has now published its report.
Key findings
The Committee’s key finding is that the Act is not widely implemented. To address this the Committee recommends that responsibility for implementing the Act be given to an independent body.
The Committee’s second key finding is that the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are not fit for purpose. The Committee recommends that they be replaced with new provisions.
Lord Hardie, Chairman of the Committee said:
“The Committee believes that the Act is good and it needs to be implemented. What we want to see is a change in attitudes and practice which reflects the empowering ethos of the Act. To achieve this we recommend that overall responsibility for the Act be given to an independent body whose task will be to oversee, monitor and drive forward implementation.”
“We were very concerned by what we heard about the safeguards. The evidence suggests that tens of thousands of people are being deprived of their liberty without the protection of the law, and without the protection that Parliament intended. Worse still, in some cases the safeguards are being wilfully used to oppress individuals and to force decisions upon them. The Government needs to go back to the drawing board to draft replacement provisions that are easy to understand and implement, and in keeping with the style and ethos of the Mental Capacity Act.”
The full text of the report can be viewed here:
PDF version – http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldselect/ldmentalcap/139/139.pdf
HTML version – http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldselect/ldmentalcap/139/13902.htm
An Easy Read summary of the report can be viewed here:
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