The most vulnerable in society will be better protected as
reforms to simplify and streamline lasting powers of attorney are
given Royal Assent.
These legal agreements enable a person to grant decision-making
powers about their care, treatment or financial affairs to
another person if they lose mental capacity.
The Powers of Attorney Act fires the starting gun on bringing the
existing paper-based process online for the first time. The
changes, when introduced, will make the system quicker, easier to
access and more secure for the thousands of people who make and
rely on a lasting power of attorney every year.
The legislation, which was introduced by and supported by the
government, will also strengthen existing fraud protection by
allowing checks on the identity of those applying for a lasting
power of attorney.
The new online system and the additional safeguards are now being
developed by the Office of the Public Guardian. Extensive testing
will need to be carried out to ensure the process is simple to
use, works as intended and is secure. More information on when it
will be available will be published in the coming months.
Justice Minister said:
Millions of people rely on a lasting power of attorney to make
sure their care and finances are taken care of should they lose
mental capacity.
This Act allows us to modernise the service, introduce new
safeguards from fraud and abuse and make it simpler to give
people peace of mind their interests will be protected.
The number of registered lasting power of attorneys has increased
drastically in recent years to more than 6 million but the
process of making one retains many paper-based features that are
over 30 years old. Every year, the Office of the Public Guardian
handles more than 19 million pieces of paper as a result of their
offline system.
The digitalisation will speed up registration time by picking up
errors earlier and allowing them to be fixed online rather than
having to wait for documents to be posted back and forth between
the applicant and the Office of the Public Guardian as currently
happens.
An improved paper process will also be introduced for those
unable to use the internet.
These reforms build on the success of the ‘Use an LPA’ service
which was launched in 2020 which allowed organisations like banks
to digitally and securely check the registration of a lasting
power of attorney instantaneously. This sped up a process that
previously took weeks to conclude while paper copies were shared.
Amy Holmes, the Public Guardian for England and Wales, said:
This is a significant milestone in our plans to modernise lasting
powers of attorney and we are one step closer to a quicker, more
secure and straightforward service.
Our focus now is on continuing to develop, test and refine a new
online platform and improved paper process to ensure we provide a
service that will include additional safeguards and suit the
needs of all our customers.
In the meantime, the Office of the Public Guardian has increased
the number of staff processing applications and the teams are now
registering around 19,000 more lasting powers of attorney a month
than before the pandemic.
Notes to editors:
- Lasting power of attorney was introduced in 2007 as part of
the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This replaced the previous system
of enduring power of attorney that had been in place since 1986.
- There are two types of lasting power of attorney (LPA).
Property and affairs LPAs cover decisions such as buying and
selling property or managing bank or building society accounts or
investments. Health and Welfare LPAs cover decisions about
medical treatments and care arrangements such as where a person
should live, who they contact, and their day-to-day care.
- Although LPAs are a private agreement between individuals,
the Office of the Public Guardian must register an LPA before it
can be used.
- The Use an LPA service is only eligible for LPAs registered
after 1 January 2016.
- The reforms were based on a Ministry of Justice consultation
response in May 2022: Lasting Power of
Attorney revamp to improve safety and efficiency
