Introduction
1Parts of this chapter originally appeared, in different form, in an article by Alex Ruck Keene entitled ‘Safeguarding and the Court of Protection,’ in the November 2013 Encyclopedia of Local Government Law Bulletin, Sweet & Maxwell. See also Alex Ruck Keene, Kelly Stricklin-Coutinho and Henry Gilfillan, ‘The role of the Court of Protection in safeguarding’ [2015] Journal of Adult Protection 380.Safeguarding:nature of
Safeguarding
Safeguarding:nature of
Safeguarding
Safeguarding:obligations
Safeguarding
23.1A significant proportion of the welfare applications made to the Court of Protection are made by local authorities on the basis of concerns that an adult lacking decision-making capacity in one or more domains, either has been subjected to or is at risk of harm. Such applications frequently arise, therefore, in the context of the discharge by the local authority of the obligations that are imposed upon it by various routes to safeguard adults at risk within their area. The overlap between actions taken on the basis of safeguarding obligations and applications before the Court of Protection is one that justifies a specific chapter of its own because of the difficulties that can arise where local authorities are not sufficiently clear as to the specific requirements that arise when matters move from investigation to proceedings before the court.
23.2This chapter therefore outlines briefly what is meant by safeguarding, by specific reference to the changes to the law in England and Wales introduced by the Care Act 2014 and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 respectively. It then highlights how Court of Protection proceedings form an aspect of safeguarding, before making clear the specific steps required when an adult’s circumstances move from being the subject of a safeguarding investigation to an application before the Court of Protection. It, finally, notes what should happen while Court of Protection proceedings are ongoing and further safeguarding concerns arise.
23.3It is not only local authorities who have safeguarding obligations: other bodies, most obviously NHS bodies, will have responsibilities toward adults at risk, and may find that those responsibilities give rise to a need to bring proceedings before the Court of Protection. While the changes set out in the Care Act 2014 and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 do not directly apply to such bodies, the principles set out in the subsequent parts of the chapter apply with equal force to them.