If you haven’t seen it yet, the Joint Committee on Human Rights has published a report exploring the human rights implications of the Coronavirus Act 2020 and its available here. It makes for interesting reading, and if you are the kind of nerd I am, then I do encourage you to read it. If not, a useful summary is available on the Mental Capacity Law and Policy website here.
From my perspective, what stood out is that it harks back to what I spoke about early on, and the lack of clarity around the human rights threshold in relation to social care provision and the Care Act easements. My post on that is here.
So I am immensely pleased to see the report recommend clarity and further guidance on this point, in the event that the relevant provisions of the Coronavirus Act are to remain in force. There is a possibility that the sections of the Coronavirus Act 2020 that enable the Care Act easements will be revoked as part of the review later this month though, so we’ll see.
Indeed, there is theme throughout that more guidance is needed. And I’m all for that, if that guidance is going to actually be helpful. But if its as vague as most of the guidance published thus far… Well the less said on that, the better!
Interestingly, the report also discusses my other pet project, LPS. It calls for swift implementation of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 and for resources to be given to ensuring that the implementation targets can be reached (like publishing a draft Code of Practice maybe?)
So watch this space, I guess…
In case it isn’t obvious from the fact I still haven’t identified the authority I work for, the views expressed on this blog are my own opinion and not the opinion of that local authority