Fresh research has revealed that two-thirds of local authorities assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are failing to meet required standards in their Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) arrangements. The review, carried out by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), highlighted widespread backlogs and unlawful delays, with staffing shortages and rising demand identified as the main reasons.
DoLS are legal safeguards designed to protect people who lack capacity to consent to their care, ensuring any restrictions on their freedom are lawful and necessary. However, more than 332,000 applications were made in 2023/24, with only 19% completed within the required 21 days. Many individuals are left waiting over a year for an outcome, raising concerns about preventable deaths, human rights breaches and people being detained without proper legal authority.
Plans to replace DoLS with a new system, the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS), have stalled since the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019, leaving councils and providers working within outdated guidance last updated in 2007. SCIE argues that this inaction has left a fragile framework unable to cope with modern pressures, warning that reforms must be prioritised.
SCIE is urging the Government to publish a clear roadmap for implementing the Act, update Codes of Practice, and invest in workforce training to strengthen compliance with the Mental Capacity Act. Kathryn Marsden OBE, SCIE’s chief executive, warned that continued delays risk “deepening injustice” and exposing vulnerable people with conditions such as dementia, learning disabilities and autism to further harm.
