Clause 20 - Restrictions on deputies
Mental Capacity Bill
4:00 pm
Mr David Lammy (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Tottenham, Labour)
A key principle governing deputies is that they cannot do more than the person could do if he or she had capacity. That is why it would be odd to give a deputy the power to direct someone responsible for a person's health care to allow a different person to take over that responsibility. That is something that the hon. Gentleman and I cannot do, so it would be odd to give that power to a deputy. In a sense, only the court has that power, so it is right that only the court can do this for people who lack capacity.
On the question of prohibiting a named person from having contact with the person lacking capacity, again only the court has the power to stop people having contact with others. Of course, if a deputy has doubts about someone's conduct, he is entitled to ask the Court of Protection to make a judgment, or to apply for a non-molestation order as a litigation friend. Clause 28 is there to provide protection for people who lack capacity and to protect the underlying ethos of the Bill, which is one of empowerment, personal autonomy and minimal supervision. Extending the powers in the Bill in the way suggested by the amendment would therefore be unhelpful.