Victoria Butler-Cole KC
Year of call: 2005
Silk: 2019
Newsletter
Mental Capacity Report – November 2021
Welcome to the November 2021 Mental Capacity Report. Highlights this month include:
(1) In the Health, Welfare and Deprivation of Liberty Report: the Sexual Offences Act, care workers, and paying for sex; and obligations that cannot be avoided in the context of decisions about serious medical treatment;
(2) In the Property and Affairs Report: an important consultation on a scheme to enable access to funds held by financial institutions; and guidance about disclosure of medical records to attorneys and deputies;
(3) In the Practice and Procedure Report: a new training video on communication and participation, the use of the inherent jurisdiction overseas, and a systemic approach to unblocking entrenched relationships;
(4) In the Wider Context Report: the CQC's State of Care report, vaccination and children, and a new research report on accessible legal information;
(5) In the Scotland Report: an important reversal of course by the OPG for Scotland in relation to remuneration of professional guardians.
We also say a – temporary – farewell to Annabel Lee as she goes on maternity leave, and welcome to Nyasha Weinberg as the newest member of the team.
You can find our past issues, our case summaries, and more on our dedicated sub-site here, where you can also find updated versions of both our capacity and best interests guides. We have taken a deliberate decision not to cover all the host of COVID-19 related matters that might have a tangential impact upon mental capacity in the Report. Chambers has created a dedicated COVID-19 page with resources, seminars, and more, here; Alex maintains a resources page for MCA and COVID-19 here, and Neil a page here. If you want more information on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we frequently refer to in this Report, we suggest you go to the Small Places website run by Lucy Series of Cardiff University.
