Luton Borough Council
Mental Capacity Act
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 has been in force since 1 April 2007.
The Mental Capacity Act provides a framework to empower and protect people who may lack capacity to make some decisions for themselves.
It clarifies who can take decisions in which situations, and how they should go about this. Anyone who works with, or cares for, an adult who lacks capacity must comply with the Act when making decisions or acting for that person.
This applies whether decisions are life-changing events, such as where to live, or about more everyday matters, such as what to wear or eat. It is relevant to adults of any age, regardless of when they lost capacity.
The underlying philosophy of the Mental Capacity Act is to ensure that those who lack capacity are empowered to make as many decisions for themselves as possible and that any decision made, or action taken, on their behalf is made in their best interests.
The five key principles in the Act are:
- Every adult has the right to make his or her own decisions and must be assumed to have capacity to make them unless it is proved otherwise
- A person must be given all practicable help before anyone treats them as not being able to make their own decisions
- Just because an individual makes what might be seen as an unwise decision, they should not be treated as lacking capacity to make that decision
- Anything done or any decision made on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done in their best interests
- Anything done for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity should be the least restrictive of their basic rights and freedoms.
The Office of the Public Guardian has a number of useful Mental Capacity Act booklets which you can download.
Luton services
In Luton, POhWER is an organisation which can provide a free, confidential independent mental capacity advocate (IMCA) to support people who lack capacity to make certain decisions.
An IMCA must be instructed when all of the following apply:
- there is a decision to be made regarding either serious medical treatment or change of accommodation
- the person has no close family or friends to represent their views
- the person has been deemed by the Decision Maker not to have capacity to make that decision in accordance with the Act.
IMCAs may also be instructed in safeguarding adults procedures and in care reviews.
The POhWer IMCA service can be contacted at [email protected] Tel: 0300 456 2370; Fax: 0300 456 2365; Minicom: 0300 456 2364.
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