Additional Delays to the Implementation of the new Liberty Protection Safeguards

Due to new legislation, Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2018, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were to be replaced by Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) in early 2022. The already delayed LPS implementation date of April 2022 has now been delayed further with no new date likely for implementation of the new system to authorise the deprivation of liberty for people aged 16 and over having yet been set. Whilst this may be positive for some organisations and local authorities who now do not need to rush their preparations for an April deadline, with no specific date of when the deadline now shall be, the lack of clarity may be considered troublesome for Local Authorities seeking to plan for the upcoming changes.

In order for the new safeguards to be available, after consultation reports from stakeholders, ministers need to confirm the regulations and code of practice for authorities to adhere to. Granted some of the delays to the implementation of the new safeguards have been caused by the unprecedented global pandemic and more recently the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Chair of the national Deprivation of Liberty's lead group, Lorraine Currie advised that the lack of clarity as to the timescale their preparations are to be completed by has caused difficulty considering the already pressing matters and demands in social care.

As Covid-19 restrictions continue to ease, preparations from Local Authorities and consultations within Government will continue. There are no time estimations provided by the Government as to when there will be a new deadline however both those in the social care system and legal professionals will be eagerly waiting and we will provide a further update in due course.

For further information on Liberty Protection Safeguards, please see our previous article From DOLS to LPS... 05 Sep 2019