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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Community Wishing Wall

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Signpost – Empowerment as a Mechanism of Change

 

Who are we and what do we do?

Signpost is committed to helping people overcome their barriers to employment. Our goal is to empower people to be confident in their job search and to have the skills to maintain employment. We offer a variety of core services, all of which are completely free of charge. Our services have been carefully crafted over the years to ensure that individuals have the best chance of finding and keeping work.

 

What do we wish for?

Wish Estimated £
Desktop computer £500
Laptop £500
Office 365 Licences £100

Volunteering

We are looking for volunteers to help with CV writing. Preferably someone with an HR management or graduate background with excellent listening, communication and IT skills. You will need to be empathetic and enjoy meeting people. Weekly, 3.5 hours per day, preferably mornings from 9.30am to 1.00pm. Estimated total volunteering time for 24 weeks = 84 hours.

Ready to support us?

Visit signpost website
Contact sara.kulikowski@sign-post.info
Last updated: 05/05/2026