Liberty Protection Safeguards: young people and Responsible Bodies
Updated 3 August 2021
Applies to England and Wales
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The Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) will provide protection for people aged 16 and above who are, or who need to be, deprived of their liberty in order to enable their care or treatment and who lack the mental capacity to consent to their arrangements.
People who might have an LPS authorisation include those with dementia, autism and learning disabilities who lack the relevant capacity.
LPS authorisations can apply to 16 and 17 year olds in settings such as:
- social care settings including children’s homes, short breaks and youth club provision
- education settings including day and residential schools and colleges
- hospitals, including inpatient mental health units
This is different from the existing system, (the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)), which only applies to people aged 18 or over, in care homes and hospitals.
Responsible Bodies and 16 and 17 year olds
Arrangements mainly in hospital
If the arrangements are mainly carried out in an NHS hospital, the Responsible Body would in most cases be the hospital manager in the NHS trust, or local health board in Wales.
If the arrangements are mainly carried out in an independent hospital in England, the Responsible Body would be the local authority responsible for maintaining the person’s education health and care plan (EHCP), or for providing section 20 accommodation, or for applying for a care order or interim care order. Alternatively, if the person is not covered by one of these provisions, it would be the local authority where the independent hospital is located.
If the arrangements are mainly carried out in an independent hospital in Wales, the Responsible Body would be the local health board for the area in which the hospital is situated.
Arrangements mainly in other places
If the young person has an EHCP, the Responsible Body would be the local authority responsible for maintaining the EHCP.
If the young person has an individual development plan (IDP) in place, the local authority responsible for maintaining the plan would be the Responsible Body.
Where there is no local authority responsible for maintaining the young person’s IDP, the Responsible Body would be the local authority for the area the young person is mainly resident in.
If the young person does not have an EHCP or an IDP but is being provided with accommodation in accordance with the Children Act 1989, or the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, the Responsible Body would be the local authority responsible for providing that accommodation.
If the young person does not have an EHCP or an IDP but is subject to a care order or interim care order under the Children Act 1989, the local authority that is responsible under the order for the care of the person would be the Responsible Body.
Responsible Bodies and other young people aged 18 to 25
Arrangements mainly in hospital
If the arrangements are mainly carried out in an NHS hospital, the Responsible Body would in most cases be the hospital manager in the NHS trust, or local health board in Wales.
If the arrangements are mainly carried out in an independent hospital in England, the Responsible Body would be the local authority responsible for meeting the person’s needs under the Care Act, or where the hospital is situated.
If the arrangements are mainly carried out in an independent hospital in Wales, the Responsible Body would be the local health board in whose area the hospital is situated.
If the arrangements that result in a deprivation of liberty are being carried out mainly through NHS continuing healthcare (CHC), or the equivalent in Wales, the Responsible Body would be the relevant clinical commissioning group (CCG) in England or the local health board in Wales.
Arrangements mainly in other places
If the arrangements are not in a hospital or through NHS CHC or the equivalent in Wales, but the young person has an EHCP or an IDP, the Responsible Body would be the local authority responsible for maintaining the EHCP or the IDP. If the IDP is not maintained by a local authority, the Responsible Body would be the local authority for the area the young person is in.
If the arrangements are not mainly in an NHS hospital, an independent hospital, or through NHS CHC or the equivalent in Wales, there is no EHCP or IDP and the young person has care needs which are being met by the Care Act 2014 in England or Part 4 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, the Responsible Body would be the local authority meeting the person’s care needs.
Otherwise, the Responsible Body would be the local authority meeting the person’s needs under the Care Act or the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 or the local authority for the area in which the arrangements are being carried out.