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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Essex Safeguarding Adults Decision Support Framework

Following the latest Provider Forums, we wanted to remind professionals of the new Safeguarding Adults Decision Support Framework went live in November 2025.

Developed with providers, Essex Care Association, CQC and other partners, the framework helps prevent low‑level and quality concerns from becoming safeguarding issues and ensures the local authority only receives reportable safeguarding concerns. Through partnership events such as these, you asked for clearer, more consistent guidance—therefore this framework was created in direct response. Additionally, with safeguarding demand up by 52% in the last two years, please ensure the correct pathways are used before making a referral.

A short, pre‑recorded video guide is available on the ESAB website and the Provider Hub.

Please also ensure your Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) are connected with the Essex Safeguarding Adults Board webpages and social media; so you continue to also receive up‑to‑date information, learning from SAR’s, training offers, the ESAB bulletin and information about the Safeguarding Adults Leads Forums (for DSL’s).

If you have used the tool, we would really welcome your feedback via this survey.