Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to the Court of Protection on the use of Section 49 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that (a) NHS bodies are not disproportionately affected and (b) clinicians are not called away from front-line services at short notice.

When deciding the circumstances in some cases, section 49 reports are essential to ensure that the Court of Protection has all the necessary information to enable a decision to be made about an individual’s wishes and needs. During a hearing , the court may request further information including from social workers and clinicians in the form of a section 49 report. The Department has not issued any guidance on the use of section 49 by the independent judiciary but Practice Direction 14E, issued by the Court of Protection, provides detail on how to respond to requests for section 49 reports.

No data is collected on either the number of requests to NHS bodies for section 49 reports or on which NHS bodies have been requested to provide reports.