Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2019 to Question 210488, which representative organisations for people with (a) dementia, (b) brain injuries and (c) learning difficulties he has met to discuss the effect of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill on those people.

The Law Commissions report on the Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty was published March 2017, in which they attended 83 events across England and received 583 written responses for their provisional proposal to reform the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

Further to the Law Commissions consultation events the department collectively carried out over 50 additional consultation events with stakeholders including local authorities and hospitals, numbering over 100 people, to inform the Mental Capacity Amendment Bill. Among those consulted were third sector, Government, health and care sector, professional bodies, National Health Service organisations, individuals with learning disabilities and Dementia. Representative organisations for those with dementia, brain injuries and learning disabilities include Mencap, Sense, Alzheimer’s Society, Headway, National Autistic Society, VoiceAbility, Voluntary Organisations Disability Group and more.

The Department is engaging and will continue to consult widely with stakeholders on the development of the code of practice to ensure the Bill works as intended.