MCA and LPS – Consultation Published

The much awaited Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) is on its way and we have a new draft Code of Practice to the Mental Capacity Act.

Last week, the Government published the new draft Code of Practice which looks to bring the statutory guidance up to date with some of the issues and themes that the case law in the Court of Protection has been grappling with. LPS is set to replace the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards framework. The draft Code of Practice adds detail to the legislative framework for LPS.

The Government has now launched an extended 16 week public consultation which will run until 7 July 2022.

The Government has stated that it will not provide a revised implementation date until after it has considered the consultation responses, however it is likely that there will be at least 6 months between the Government’s response to the consultation and the start date of LPS. This is to allow for the health and social care bodies to get ready for the changes and to recruit and train staff – and may take us into the summer of 2023.

Alongside the draft Code of Practice, the Government has also published six sets of draft regulations which will underpin LPS. 4 sets apply to England only and the other 2 sets are applicable to both England and Wales. The published documentation can be found on the Government’s website here.

We will shortly running a webinar on the Government’s proposals and the consultation.  If you would like to attend this webinar please register your interest by subscribing to our Mental Capacity, Mental Health and Court of Protection Essentials mailing list.

We can also deliver bespoke training sessions on implementing the LPS, the Code of Practice and the Regulations in your organisation. Further information on such sessions will be updated once the final Code of Practice and Regulations are available.

If you would like to discuss this topic in more detail, please contact Sarah Clarke, Solicitor, or Hannah Taylor, Partner.