Removing rights from the vulnerable: the impact of COVID-19 Social Care "easements"

2014年《护理法》规定地方当局有义务帮助改善服务使用者的护理和福祉。然而，作为COVID-19紧急权力的一部分，地方当局获准使用所谓的“地役权”暂停应用该法令下的若干条文。人们对地役权可能对服务使用者的基本权利产生不利影响表示了相当大的关注，其中包括社区中一些最脆弱的人，本项目将研究这些地役权对服务使用者基本权利的短期和长期影响。其重点是在中部地区四个不同的地方当局地区（伯明翰、考文垂、索利赫尔和沃里克郡）的严重社会贫困地区适用这些法律。这项研究将与位于伯明翰和考文垂的英格兰中部法律中心合作进行。该项目将全面审查这些地方当局采用地役权的法律的依据、性质和理由。将与主要利益攸关方进行访谈，包括参与地役权实施和适用的地方当局、法律的从业人员和社会护理工作者。报告将阐述在大流行期间地役权对个人基本权利的实际影响，并探讨在提供地方当局服务方面对健康和社会保健权利的潜在更广泛的长期影响。

The Care Act 2014 places obligations on local authorities to help to improve service users' care and wellbeing. However as part of the COVID-19 emergency powers, local authorities are allowed to suspend the application of certain provisions under the Act by using what are known as "easements". Considerable concern has been expressed that the easements may have an adverse impact upon the fundamental rights of service users, who include some of the most vulnerable persons in the community.This project will examine the short- and longer-term impacts of these easements on service-users' fundamental rights. Its focus is upon their application in four diverse local authority areas in the Midlands containing locales of acute social deprivation (Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire). The research will be undertaken in partnership with Central England Law Centre, which is based in Birmingham and Coventry. The project will provide a comprehensive examination of the legal basis for, and the nature and rationale of, easement powers introduced by these local authorities. Interviews will be undertaken with key stakeholders, including local authorities, legal practitioners and social care workers involved in the implementation and application of the easements. It will set out the practical impacts of the easements on individual fundamental rights during the pandemic itself and also explore the potential broader longer-term impacts on health and social care rights in the provision of local authority services.