With thanks, again, to Tim Spencer-Lane for his summary, the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill today (27 November) completed report stage in the House of Lords. Key developments:
• The Bill was amended to place rights to information for the person & others on the face of the Bill (this was not a Government amendment, passed by 277 – 192 votes)
• The following Government amendments were passed
o pre-authorisation reviews must be arranged by the responsible body
o regulation-making powers to prevent pre-authorisation reviews being carried out by someone connected to the care home
o care home manager’s statement must be in writing, and accompanied by the necessary & proportionate assessment
o the person is expressly included in the list of those who must be consulted, and the necessary & proportionate assessment must consider the person’s wishes & feelings
o care home managers prevented from being “gatekeepers” for IMCA appointments
o an IMCA must be appointed unless this would not be in the person’s best interests
• The Government agreed to consider if in addition to independent hospitals, the Bill should be amended to require AMCPs to consider other cases
• It was confirmed by the Government that conditions can be included in authorised arrangements
• The Government agreed to consider before 3rd reading an amendment on whistle-blowers raising concerns with AMCPs
The Hansard transcript can be found here.