Homecare Association response: Liberty Protection Safeguards draft Code of Practice

The Homecare Association response to the UK Government's consultation on the Liberty Protection Safeguards draft Code of Practice is available below.

While the Liberty Protection Safeguards process is designed to be more streamlined than the existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards; the new system will have a broader scope covering everyone living in their own homes. While technically deprivation of liberty in the community has been subject to court authorisation, we are concerned that there may be more cases in the community that come to light and that the implementation planning underestimates the number of cases that might arise.

We highlight that training and implementation could cost the sector in excess of £13 million and call for this to be adequately funded. We also call for greater clarity about key aspects of the guidance, to support training. One key issue that needs to be explained clearly is how and when decisions are made about what is and what is not a deprivation of liberty.