PART 4

INDEPENDENT MENTAL CAPACITY ADVOCATES

Independent mental capacity advocates

Independent mental capacity advocates
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1
Each HSC trust must make arrangements to secure that, where the trust is required by section 91 to instruct an independent mental capacity advocate to represent and provide support to a person (“P”) in the determination of whether a particular act in relation to which P lacks capacity would be in P's best interests, an independent mental capacity advocate is available to be instructed by the trust to represent and provide support to P in that determination.
2
Arrangements under subsection (1) may include provision for payments to be made to, or in relation to, persons carrying out functions by virtue of the arrangements.
3
In making arrangements under subsection (1), and instructing an independent mental capacity advocate under section 91, an HSC trust must have regard to the principle that a person to whom a proposed act would relate should be represented by someone who is independent of any person who will be responsible for the act if it is done.
4
In this Act “independent mental capacity advocate” means a person who has been appointed by an HSC trust, in accordance with regulations under the following provisions of this section, to be a person to whom the trust may from time to time offer instructions under section 91.
5
The Department may make regulations about the arrangements that may be entered into by HSC trusts for the purposes of this section.
6
The regulations may in particular—
a
provide that a person may be appointed as mentioned in subsection (4) only if the person meets prescribed conditions;
b
provide for the appointment of a person to be subject to prescribed conditions;
c
enable an appointment to be such that the person appointed will only be offered instructions of a description specified by the appointment.
7
The conditions that may be prescribed under subsection (6)(a) include—
a
a condition that the person is approved, or belongs to a description of persons approved, in accordance with the regulations;
b
a condition that the person has prescribed qualifications or skills or has undertaken prescribed training.
Pt. 4: power to apply conferred by S.I. 1986/595 (N.I.), art. 3C(6)(7)(a) (as inserted (2.12.2019 for specified purposes) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 4 (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with arts. 3, 4) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2))