We read with concern and growing astonishment a news item on the Family Law Week website which ran under the headline: Court finds local authority in ‘blatant disregard’ of Mental Capacity Act processes. As the judge observed, the case of P (a woman in Somerset with severe learning disabilities and an autistic spectrum disorder) had “many depressing similarities” to London Borough of Hillingdon v Neary [2011] EWHC 1377 i.e. the case of Steven Neary, who was detained in ‘short-term respite care’ for over a year against his own and his father’s wishes.
What is particularly depressing is the concession from the senior social work manager that “there was no understanding of the law in this area [Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty and Human Rights] by the social workers and local authority lawyers. Both individuals and the philosophy behind their actions were wrong. There had been no consultation with the family throughout the process and no consideration of the impact on P”; this followed an earlier concession by the local authority that P had been unlawfully deprived of her liberty contrary to Article 5 ECHR and that there was a breach of P’s and her family’s Article 8 rights.
We recommend that you read the article in full. There are also embedded links to other related sites (e.g. on the Neary case) which you might wish to follow.