MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
News Release (No: 128/08) issued by COI News Distribution Service.
23 October 2007
Plans to reduce
the fees and simplify the forms for people making Lasting Powers
of Attorney (LPA) were part of proposals announced today in a
public consultation by Public Guardian Martin John.
This consultation is the first stage of a wider review by the
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) into how well the Mental
Capacity Act (MCA) (2005) is working.
The proposals include plans to:
* reduce the fee for registering LPAs from £150 to £120
* redesign the LPA form and guidance notes to be clearer and more
logical, with guidance notes incorporated in the form itself; and
* introduce a new level of supervision of court-appointed
deputies to give short-term support and scrutiny where needed.
Bridget Prentice, Justice Minister said:
"The Mental Capacity Act is an important piece of
legislation that enables people to plan for the future, and helps
protect the most vulnerable people in society. This welcome review
will ensure the law continues to deliver what people need."
Public Guardian Martin John said:
"We have listened to our customers and brought forward these
proposals to make real improvements. But this is just the first
phase of our wider work to review how effective the implementation
of the Act has been and what else we can do to make a real
difference to our users."
Rosie Varley, the first chair of the Public Guardian Board which
scrutinises the Public Guardian said:
"I am pleased that OPG have started the review, which will
address many of the issues raised in our first annual report
published earlier this month.
"As I said then, the first year of operation has been very
tough, but lessons have been learned. I look forward to our next
report when I hope to see some of the measures outlined in the
review being introduced."
Some of these changes will be introduced from April 2009. The
review is a long-standing public commitment to be carried out one
year after the Act came into force.
Notes to Editors
1. The consultation will end on 15 January 2009.
2. The consultation, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Supervision of
Deputies by the Public Guardian and Office of the Public Guardian
and Court of Protection Fees, can be found on http://www.publicguardian.co.uk
3. The forms have been redesigned with help from Solicitors for
the Elderly.
4. The review will continue to look at other areas of how well
the Act is working over the coming months. Further details will
be outlined on the OPG's website http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk
and through customer and stakeholder newsletters issued by the OPG.
5. The OPG registers enduring and lasting powers of attorney,
supervises deputies appointed by the Court of Protection and
investigates any concerns raised with it in relation to deputies
or registered enduring or lasting powers of attorney.
6. Deputies are appointed by the Court of Protection to make
decisions for people when they lack capacity when the Court
decides it is in the best interest of the person that a deputy is appointed.
7. Registering an LPAs currently costs £150 per form. EPAs which
are the precursor to LPAs cost £120 to register. We propose to
reduce the fee for registering LPAs from £150 to £120 to reflect
the reduced costs resulting from the higher than expected volumes.
8. Following delays in the processing of applications to register
LPAs earlier this year, applications that contain no errors are
now being processed in just over 8 weeks, and within the published
standard of 9 weeks.
9. For more information about the Act, please visit http://www.publicguardian.co.uk.
http://www.justice.gov.uk
ENDS