The Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty

You may be aware that the Supreme Court has recently issued a judgment which significantly changes the legal approach to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty. The judgement can be seen here A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 o….

We would encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the judgment and carefully consider the implications for your services and practice. Please see the following links for further information: CQC statement on the Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty - Care Quality Commission and 2026-UKSC-16-Summary-for-website.pdf.

We ask that you refer to this updated position when making any new referrals to the DoLS team.  In addition, as the change came into effect immediately from 2 June, please review any recent DoLS referrals you have made. You should consider whether, in light of this revised approach, any of these referrals may no longer be appropriate.

We hope this offers reassurance whilst we wait for additional National guidance to be disseminated.  At this stage we don’t have further information, but if you have a specific query, you can contact the MCA DoLS Duty Team at Dolforms@essex.gov.uk

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ECC have data for age ranges including under 1 through to 16 and over. The most significant change in trend being the 10yrs- 15ysrs and the 16yrs+ groups.

The under 1 year old group has seen a 50% increase in CIC. This is in line with the investment in early help and intervention services in identifying Children In Need.

The 16+category has had a 7% increase reflecting the higher rate of SMC coming into care. This is higher in Essex in comparison to other local figures. This is in line with the national increase across England which has seen a 9% rise from previous year.

CIC at 31 March: % Age: 10 to 15

 

CIC at 31 March: % Age: 16 and over

Last updated: 28/03/2024