The Minister for Care, Caroline Dinenage, has written an open letter addressing concerns over the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill.

The letter sets out the need for reform to the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards system, and addresses concerns from Inclusion London around conflict of interest, advocacy and provision of information in the proposals.

The Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, has activated a backlash from social care leaders and stakeholders who maintain it creates a conflict of interest by passing responsibility on decisions over deprivation of liberty to care home managers.

The minister said: “We have built in protections against conflicts of interest for those making decisions about a person’s deprivation of liberty.

“Before an authorisation is given, it must be reviewed by someone who is not involved in the day-to-day care or in providing any treatment to the person: in the care home cases, it cannot be completed by care home staff or the manager.”

The letter can be viewed here.