Our response to Care Inspectorate Wales reviews on local authority performances regarding Deprivation of Liberties

The following response was issued to the South Wales Argus:

Age Cymru's Louise Hughes says:

"If local authorities need to deprive someone of their liberty it has to be done in a manner that follows all the legal frameworks including the Human Rights Act and the Mental Capacity Act, as these pieces of legislation are there to protect individuals' rights.

Expert knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act is essential if there is a compelling need to deprive someone of their liberty. While those being deprived of their liberty must have all the appropriate assessments including that to determine if they lack capacity to make decisions for themselves.

It is worrying that the Mental Capacity Act has been in place for more than ten years and yet violations of these rights are still happening. It is crucial for a Deprivation of Liberty safeguards (DoLs) Advocate to be there for the individual whose liberty is being removed. It is also crucial that the decision is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains appropriate.

Those local authorities that are not meeting Human Rights requirements need to be scrutinised so that appropriate training and frameworks can put in place to rectify matters.

The Law Commission recently did a review of Dols so we're expecting some major changes soon as it was recognised that the system was not working across England and Wales.

The current situation is simply not acceptable. The Welsh Government needs to ensure that its citizens have all of their rights upheld while in receipt of vital services provided by a public authority. This should happen as part of its review of how to protect equalities and human rights in the context of Brexit and in its work that is looking at options to include older people within the new measures it is bringing forward on human rights in Wales.

Ends.