Implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards delayed 'beyond the life of this Paliament'

Delays as a result of changed priorities following the Government's announcements of new plans to reform the care sector

The implementation of the LPS has been postponed in the wake of the Government's plans to reform the care sector. The decision was announced in a letter to stakeholders and has been taken to allow the department to focus on those plans. 

The full text of that letter is set out below:

​"Dear LPS stakeholders,  

Update on implementation of the LPS  

Yesterday you will have seen the Government has set out its plans for adult social care reform in its publication of the Next steps to put People at the Heart of Care.   

To enable us to focus on these critical priorities, the Government has taken the difficult decision to delay the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards beyond the life of this Parliament. This was one of a number of decisions taken as part of prioritising work on social care. More detail can be found on plans to reform and improve adult social care here.  

We recognise that this delay will be disappointing news for the people and organisations who have worked closely with us on the development of the LPS since the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act was introduced in 2019. We would like to thank everyone who engaged with us on the development of the policy and during the consultation on the LPS. The detailed feedback we received has been invaluable.   

During the LPS consultation, we received detailed feedback from stakeholders across the health and social care, voluntary and legal sectors, and the people affected by it. Many of those who responded to the consultation expressed support for the LPS and agreed that there is a need for a more streamlined and person-centred system. Though some responses to the consultation also suggested changes to the proposals in a number of ways which have been considered during the consultation analysis phase. 

Although implementation of LPS has been delayed at this time, we plan to publish a summary of responses to the consultation in due course, which will set out further information about the feedback we received at consultation. We will update you via the LPS newsletter when the summary of responses is published. 

In the meantime, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards remain an important system for authorising deprivations of liberty, and it is vital that health and social care providers continue to make applications in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that the rights of those who may lack the relevant capacity are protected. "