Sophy Miles & Beverley Taylor highlight the problems stemming from the Mental Capacity Act 2005
The House of Lords Select Committee on the Mental Capacity Act has recently condemned the failure to implement a “visionary” piece of legislation which “had the potential to transform the lives of many”. In a stinging report, the committee described one part of the legislation, the controversial deprivation of liberty safeguards (DOLS), as unfit for purpose.
The committee described its work as “shining a light” on an area of public policy which might otherwise have been neglected. At the start of its work it was told by officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) was “a success”. As the evidence emerged it became clear that this assessment was over-optimistic. By the concluding sessions the minister of state for care and support, Norman Lamb, had accepted that the implementation and understanding of the Act was a “work in progress”. The government has established a Mental Capacity Act Steering Group to agree a programme to re-invigorate the
