DHSC announces Liberty Protection Safeguards consultation for first
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a consultation on Liberty Protection Safeguards to be launched in the first half of 2026, jointly run with the Ministry of Justice. The consultation will seek views from families, carers and practitioners including social workers, nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists. Responses will inform a final Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice to be laid in Parliament. The revised Code of Practice will incorporate changes in case law, legislation, organisational structures, terminology and good practice since 2007, addressing challenges in the existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards framework. The announcement comes as the Supreme Court reviews what constitutes deprivation of liberty in a case from Northern Ireland, with the UK government granted permission to intervene. The current system has a backlog of 123,790 individuals and the proposed Liberty Protection Safeguards aim to streamline processes, reduce intrusive assessments and focus on the most vulnerable people. The last consultation on this topic occurred in 2022 without resulting in changes.