Skip to main content

Publication, Part of

Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, 2023-24

Official statistics

Publication Date:
22 Aug 2024
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Country, Regions, Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs), Local Authorities
Date Range:
01 Apr 2023 to 31 Mar 2024

Current Chapter

Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, 2023-24

View all

Next Chapter

Introduction and Key Points

New and Revised Metrics

Please Note: Additional metrics regarding fully assessments of DoLS applications are available for the first time in 2023-24 statistical outputs. For more information on this please refer to the Background Supporting Information here

22 August 2024 09:30 AM

Page contents

Summary

These official statistics provide findings for England from the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) data collection for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. DoLS are a legal framework applying to individuals who lack the mental capacity to consent to the arrangements for their care. Where such care may amount to a "deprivation of liberty" the arrangements are independently assessed to ensure they are in the best interests of the individual concerned. The data is collected from local authorities in England, who are the supervisory bodies for authorising deprivations of liberty of adults in care homes and hospitals.

The aim of this publication is to inform users about aspects of DoLS activity, including the profile of people for whom a DoLS application was received, applications completed and their outcome, and applications not completed. This page presents the key facts and data tables. Further chapters give more detailed key information about data quality, how the data should be used, how the data was collected and collated (Introduction and Key Points chapter) and background about DoLS (Background Supporting Information). The DoLS dashboard, which is an interactive business intelligence tool published alongside the data tables, presents further insight of the data including breakdowns by local authority.

Highlights

The England-level statistics for 2023-24 has not been estimated as all local authority were able to submit data at stipulated dates.

Adult Social Care Data Hub - DoLS dashboard

Interactive charts and visualisations

This tool is in Microsoft Power BI which does not fully support all accessibility needs. If you need further assistance, please contact us for help.

DoLS applications received

There were an estimated 332,455 applications for DoLS received during 2023-24. This is an increase of 11% similar to the previous year, which is closer to the rate of growth seen before COVID-19 (between 2014-15 and 2019-20 the average growth rate was 14% each year) following an interim period of relatively small increases in numbers of applications.

 

The proportion of DoLS applications which have an urgent authorisation attached was 58% in 2023-24.

DoLS applications fully assessed

There were an estimated 145,945 fully assessed applications for DoLS received during 2023-24. This is a new metric based on guidance updated to reflect the changes in reporting agreed by DDAG in March 2024.

 

The proportion of DoLS fully assessed on urgent authorisation was 37% in 2023-24.

DoLS applications completed

The number of applications completed in 2023-24 was estimated to be 323,870. The number of completed applications has increased over the last five years by an average of 9% each year.

DoLS closed with partial assessment

The number of partially assessed applications in 2023-24 was estimated to be 15,270. The number of partial assessed cannot be determined for previous years but accounted for 5% of all completed applications in 2023-24.

DoLS applications not completed

The reported number of cases that were not completed as at year end was an estimated 123,790, a decrease of 2% from last year.

DoLS closed without any assessments

The reported number of cases that were closed without any assessments as at year end was an estimated 162,655 this year. This is a new metric for 2023-24.

Fully Assessed DoLS applications not granted

3% of all completed and fully assessed applications were not granted. This is a new metric for 2023-24.

DoLS fully assessed and not granted

The reported number of cases shows 4,315, with reason not granted as change in circumstances the highest at 51%, followed by death of person at 25% and assessment criteria not met with 21%. Admin error and blank is less than 0.5%.

Time taken to process DoLS applications

The proportion of standard applications completed within the statutory timeframe of 21 days was 19% in 2023-24, which is same as the previous year. The average length of time for all completed applications was 144 days, compared to 156 days in the previous year. 

Last edited: 30 August 2024 9:45 am