More than three-quarters of adult social services directors are not fully confident they can deliver the new system for authorising deprivations of liberty due to come into force next year, a survey has found. Eighty two per cent of directors reported having no or partial confidence that they could deliver their statutory responsibilities under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) in 2020-21. The LPS, which will replace DoLS, is due to come into force in October 2020 but that may be delayed as a result of the … focus on Brexit. The survey findings come after annual official figures showing the number of completed DoLS applications in England reached a record 216,005 in 2018-19, 42% more than the 151,970 recorded two years previously.
