20 October 2025
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), on Saturday 18 October, responded to news that the government will launch a consultation on Liberty Protection Safeguards to improve safeguarding for vulnerable people.
The proposed Liberty Protection Safeguards aim to deliver improved protection and an easier and improved system to allow carers, psychologists, social workers and families to provide care to vulnerable people in circumstances that amount to a deprivation of liberty.
We welcome the major changes to safeguarding and protections under the proposed Liberty Protection Safeguards. Implementation has stalled for five years against a backdrop of rising demand and escalating consequences; over 332,000 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards applications were made in 2023/24, with only 19% completed within the 21-day legal requirement—and many people waiting over a year for completion. The Government’s announcement is a vital step towards addressing the unsustainable pressures we have consistently highlighted.
Every day, people are being deprived of their liberty without proper legal authority because the system designed to protect them is overwhelmed and misunderstood. This carries a profound risk of human rights breaches, particularly for people with learning disabilities, autism, dementia or long-term mental health conditions.
We strongly welcome the consultation next year and the long-overdue revision of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice. But with rising demand, mounting delays and legal ambiguity, continuing inaction will only deepen injustice and increase costs—both human and financial. Reform must now move from commitment to delivery.
Kathryn Marsden OBE
Chief Executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
Notes to the Editor
The government’s press release is available at GOV.UK.
332,000 DoLS applications made in 2023/24 is cited in ‘Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, 2023-24’, available at NHS England.
19% of DoLS applications being completed within the 21-day legal requirement, with significant numbers waiting between 12 and 18 months for completion, is cited in ‘The state of health adult social care in England 2023/24’, available at CQC.
About SCIE
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) improves the lives of people of all ages by co-producing, sharing, and supporting the use of the best available knowledge and evidence about what works in practice. We are a leading independent social care charity working with organisations that support adults, families and children across the UK.
If you have any questions regarding this submission, please do not hesitate to contact Molly Pennington, Press and Media Relations Officer, at molly.pennington@scie.org.uk