The House of Lords Committee on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has published its call for evidence.
Chairman of the Committee, Lord Hardie, said:
“The Mental Capacity Act has been in force since 2007, and the time is right to scrutinise the legislation to see if it is working as Parliament intended. The Act provides protection for some of the most vulnerable members of our society and it is critical to understand whether implementation has delivered on what was promised in legislation.”
“We will be examining whether the Government’s implementation programme was effective in embedding the guiding principles of the Act in every day practice, and whether there has been a noticeable change in the culture of care. We need to know how well the Act is understood by those who are affected by it. And we are very interested to hear about whether the safeguards contained in the Act are sufficient: are people able effectively to challenge decisions made under the Act? Is the Court of Protection accessible to those affected?”
“We welcome all views from experts and those having first-hand experience of the Act, and would encourage anyone who has an interest to send us their evidence and contribute to the debate.”
To link to their website and the call for evidence: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/Mental%20Capacity%20Act%202005/Final%20call%20for%20evidence.pdf