Liberty Protection Safeguards

8 April 2022

Dear        ,

ATISN 16158 – Liberty Protection Safeguards

Thank you for your request to the Welsh Government for information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) received on 12 March 2022.  You refer to the letter issued by H Tabiner to the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) nation steering group members on 16 December 2021 and requested the following:

1. To disclose what observations and representations Welsh Government has made in terms of responding to this new legislative framework thus far say from Royal Assent of the MCA [Amend] 2019 Act?

2. To disclose what actual measures, circulars, letters or Orders Welsh Government have issued in preparation for LPS implementation?

3. To disclose what quantum of resource or finance has been allocated for the correct operation of LPS in terms of WG Service delivery/LG provision duly expected by Welsh Government to properly give effect to the LPS framework in Wales?

Our Response

The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 provides the regulation-making powers for the Welsh Ministers to address the widely recognised challenges associated with the current DoLS system. Welsh Government is consulting on regulations to be made using these regulation making powers. The draft regulations for Wales which have been published for consultation are;

• The Mental Capacity (Deprivation of Liberty: Eligibility to Carry Out Assessments, Make Determinations and Carry Out Pre-Authorisation Reviews) (Wales) Regulations 2022

• The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Independent Mental Capacity Advocates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

• The Mental Capacity (Deprivation of Liberty: Monitoring and Reporting) (Wales) Regulations 2022

• The Mental Capacity (Deprivation of Liberty: Monitoring and Reporting) (Wales) Regulations 2022

These draft regulations are all available on the consultation web page: Liberty protection safeguards | GOV.WALES

Welsh Government have also prepared a series of impact assessments for the regulations, which are also published on the consultation web page. These impact assessments are:

• Children’s rights impact assessment
• Equality impact assessment
• Welsh Language impact assessment.
• Regulatory impact assessment.

These are all available on the consultation web page, alongside a range of other materials to support understanding of the regulations.

A written statement relating to the consultation on the LPS regulations for Wales from Eluned Morgan, Minister for Health and Social Services was published on 17 March 2022. This can be found on the Welsh Government announcements web page; Written Statement: Welsh Government consultation on Regulations for Wales to support the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (17 March 2022) | GOV.WALES

The Deputy Director for Mental Health, Substance Misuse and Vulnerable Groups has written out to stakeholders in Wales on 11 August 2021, 21 October 2021, 17 December 2021 and 11 February 2022 in relation to the implementation of the LPS in Wales. These updates are provided in annexes 1-4.

Welsh Government has issued three newsletters in relation to the LPS consultation since the beginning of the consultation. These are provided in documents 1-3.

The former Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language wrote to the Minister of State for Care in relation to the LPS on 10 February 2021 and 29 March 2021. These letters are provided in documents 4 and 5.

Welsh Government is providing £8m of transitional costs for the transition to the Liberty Protection Safeguards in 2022-23. This will facilitate the rollout of training, development of workforce plans, plans for monitoring and reporting, and improved provision of certain key roles, such as Independent Mental Capacity Advocates, ahead of the implementation of the LPS. The Welsh Government indicative funding strategy is for this funding to continue in 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support implementation in the transitional year and beyond. Dependent on the outcome of the consultation, early intentions are for funding in years two and three to increase to up to £17million per year, in line with the expected costs identified within the draft Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response. Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:

Information Rights Unit, 
Welsh Government,
Cathays Park, 
Cardiff, 
CF10 3NQ 
or Email: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales

Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office, 
Wycliffe House, 
Water Lane, 
Wilmslow, 
Cheshire, 
SK9 5AF

However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Yours sincerely