The supervisory body and IMCA roles

Records to be provided by the supervisory body

Where there is a request for a DoLS authorisation supervisory bodies should provide any 39A, 39C or 39D IMCA involved with:

Deciding which IMCA provider should be instructed

The MCA Code of Practice says the IMCA service to be instructed is the one which ‘works wherever the person is at the time that the person needs support and representation’ (MCA Code of Practice, Paragraph 10.12). It is not dependent on the location of the supervisory body.

For all the IMCA DoLS roles the IMCA provider instructed will be the one which covers the area where the person is staying. For the 39A IMCA role this may not be where the proposed deprivation of liberty will take place if the plan is to move the person. For the 39C and 39D IMCA roles it will be where the person is being deprived of their liberty.

Where a 39D IMCA is instructed to support a relevant person’s representative who lives in a different area to where the person is deprived of their liberty, supervisory bodies may wish to instruct the IMCA service which covers the area where the representative lives.

However, it is good practice to instruct the IMCA service where the person is being deprived of their liberty because:

See ‘Which local authority is responsible for commissioning?’ in ADASS/SCIE Guide 31: Good practice guidance for the commissioning and monitoring of Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) services

IMCA and paid relevant person’s representative roles in the Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
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