The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) response to the Law Commission’s Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Interim Statement of May 25th 2016

BASW was a contributor to the House of Lords post-legislative scrutiny committee on the Mental Capacity Act, and broadly supported the scrutiny committee findings and report, in particularly we concluded that the DoLS were not “fit for purpose” and agreed with the proposals that DoLS needed a radical overhaul. BASW made a submission in November 2015 on the Law Commission’s consultation paper on deprivation of liberty in which we were broadly supportive of the proposed changes. BASW members strongly support the need for existence of legislation to support and be compatible with human rights legislation for people who may lack capacity over decision making, but recognise that the legislation must be “fit for purpose” and understandable.