Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of reviewing the current approach to mental capacity assessments, particularly in relation to addiction and conditions which may involve fluctuating capacity, such as short-term dementia.

On 18 October 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the intention to launch a public consultation on the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) in 2026. The consultation will cover a revised Code of Practice and will incorporate changes in case law, legislation, and good practice in the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

The LPS as introduced by the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 aims to deliver streamlined processes and assessments for authorising deprivations of liberty, including for individuals with fluctuating capacity. This consultation will seek the views of those affected, and people involved in their care and welfare. The responses from this consultation will be used to inform a final MCA Code of Practice which will be laid in Parliament.