Mental Capacity Act 2005

[F1Part 13 E+WInterpretation

IntroductionE+W

174E+WThis Part applies for the purposes of this Schedule.

Hospitals and their managing authoritiesE+W

175(1)“Hospital” means—

(a)an NHS hospital, or

(b)an independent hospital.

(2)“NHS hospital” means—

(a)a health service hospital as defined by section 275 of the National Health Service Act 2006 or section 206 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, or

(b)a hospital as defined by section 206 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 vested in a Local Health Board.

(3)“Independent hospital” means a hospital as defined by section 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 which is not an NHS hospital.

176(1)“Managing authority”, in relation to an NHS hospital, means—E+W

(a)if the hospital—

(i)is vested in the appropriate national authority for the purposes of its functions under the National Health Service Act 2006 or of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, or

(ii)consists of any accommodation provided by a local authority and used as a hospital by or on behalf of the appropriate national authority under either of those Acts,

the Primary Care Trust, Strategic Health Authority, Local Health Board or Special Health Authority responsible for the administration of the hospital;

(b)if the hospital is vested in a Primary Care Trust, National Health Service trust or NHS foundation trust, that trust;

(c)if the hospital is vested in a Local Health Board, that Board.

(2)For this purpose the appropriate national authority is—

(a)in relation to England: the Secretary of State;

(b)in relation to Wales: the National Assembly for Wales;

(c)in relation to England and Wales: the Secretary of State and the National Assembly acting jointly.

177“Managing authority”, in relation to an independent hospital, means the person registered, or required to be registered, under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 in respect of the hospital.

Care homes and their managing authoritiesE+W

178E+W“Care home” has the meaning given by section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000.

179“Managing authority”, in relation to a care home, means the person registered, or required to be registered, under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 in respect of the care home.

Supervisory bodies: hospitalsE+W

180(1)The identity of the supervisory body is determined under this paragraph in cases where the relevant hospital is situated in England.E+W

(2)If a Primary Care Trust commissions the relevant care or treatment, that Trust is the supervisory body.

(3)If the National Assembly for Wales or a Local Health Board commission the relevant care or treatment, the National Assembly are the supervisory body.

(4)In any other case, the supervisory body are the Primary Care Trust for the area in which the relevant hospital is situated.

(5)If a hospital is situated in the areas of two (or more) Primary Care Trusts, it is to be regarded for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) as situated in whichever of the areas the greater (or greatest) part of the hospital is situated.

181(1)The identity of the supervisory body is determined under this paragraph in cases where the relevant hospital is situated in Wales.E+W

(2)The National Assembly for Wales are the supervisory body.

(3)But if a Primary Care Trust commissions the relevant care or treatment, that Trust is the supervisory body.

Supervisory bodies: care homesE+W

182(1)The identity of the supervisory body is determined under this paragraph in cases where the relevant care home is situated in England or in Wales.E+W

(2)The supervisory body are the local authority for the area in which the relevant person is ordinarily resident.

(3)But if the relevant person is not ordinarily resident in the area of a local authority, the supervisory body are the local authority for the area in which the care home is situated.

(4)In relation to England “local authority” means—

(a)the council of a county;

(b)the council of a district for which there is no county council;

(c)the council of a London borough;

(d)the Common Council of the City of London;

(e)the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

(5)In relation to Wales “local authority” means the council of a county or county borough.

(6)If a care home is situated in the areas of two (or more) local authorities, it is to be regarded for the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) as situated in whichever of the areas the greater (or greatest) part of the care home is situated.

183(1)Subsections (5) and (6) of section 24 of the National Assistance Act 1948 (deemed place of ordinary residence) apply to any determination of where a person is ordinarily resident for the purposes of paragraph 182 as those subsections apply to such a determination for the purposes specified in those subsections.E+W

(2)In the application of section 24(6) of the 1948 Act by virtue of sub–paragraph (1), section 24(6) is to be read as if it referred to a hospital vested in a Local Health Board as well as to hospitals vested in the Secretary of State and the other bodies mentioned in section 24(6).

(3)Any question arising as to the ordinary residence of a person is to be determined by the Secretary of State or by the National Assembly for Wales.

(4)The Secretary of State and the National Assembly must make and publish arrangements for determining which cases are to be dealt with by the Secretary of State and which are to be dealt with by the National Assembly.

(5)Those arrangements may include provision for the Secretary of State and the National Assembly to agree, in relation to any question that has arisen, which of them is to deal with the case.

(6)Regulations may make provision about arrangements that are to have effect before, upon, or after the determination of any question as to the ordinary residence of a person.

(7)The regulations may, in particular, authorise or require a local authority to do any or all of the following things—

(a)to act as supervisory body even though it may wish to dispute that it is the supervisory body;

(b)to become the supervisory body in place of another local authority;

(c)to recover from another local authority expenditure incurred in exercising functions as the supervisory body.

Same body managing authority and supervisory bodyE+W

184(1)This paragraph applies if, in connection with a particular person's detention as a resident in a hospital or care home, the same body are both—E+W

(a)the managing authority of the relevant hospital or care home, and

(b)the supervisory body.

(2)The fact that a single body are acting in both capacities does not prevent the body from carrying out functions under this Schedule in each capacity.

(3)But, in such a case, this Schedule has effect subject to any modifications contained in regulations that may be made for this purpose.

Interested personsE+W

185E+WEach of the following is an interested person—

(a)the relevant person's spouse or civil partner;

(b)where the relevant person and another person of the opposite sex are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife: the other person;

(c)where the relevant person and another person of the same sex are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were civil partners: the other person;

(d)the relevant person's children and step-children;

(e)the relevant person's parents and step-parents;

(f)the relevant person's brothers and sisters, half-brothers and half-sisters, and stepbrothers and stepsisters;

(g)the relevant person's grandparents;

(h)a deputy appointed for the relevant person by the court;

(i)a donee of a lasting power of attorney granted by the relevant person.

186(1)An interested person consulted by the best interests assessor is any person whose name is stated in the relevant best interests assessment in accordance with paragraph 40 (interested persons whom the assessor consulted in carrying out the assessment).E+W

(2)The relevant best interests assessment is the most recent best interests assessment carried out in connection with the standard authorisation in question (whether the assessment was carried out under Part 4 or Part 8).

187E+WWhere this Schedule imposes on a person a duty towards an interested person, the duty does not apply if the person on whom the duty is imposed—

(a)is not aware of the interested person's identity or of a way of contacting him, and

(b)cannot reasonably ascertain it.

188E+WThe following table contains an index of provisions defining or otherwise explaining expressions used in this Schedule—