Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of lasting power of attorney applications initiated with the Office of the Public Guardian were resolved within (a) two weeks, (b) four weeks, (c) eight weeks, (d) 12 weeks and (e) more than 12 weeks in each year between 2018 and 2022.

The current average time to register a lasting power of attorney (LPA) is 81.8 days. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) target to register LPAs is 40 days. It should be noted that the OPG must carry out checks on receipt of the LPA before notices are issued, and then must observe a statutory waiting period of 4 weeks to allow for objections before the registration process can be completed. This statutory waiting period cannot be waived and is included in the calculation for the number of days to register an LPA. We know the delays are frustrating for customers and we are committed to reducing the time it is currently taking to register LPAs.

OPG staff are working day and night to tackle the Covid backlog. Frontline operational staff whose role requires them to be office-based have worked in the office throughout the pandemic and continue to do so. The OPG rapidly changed working practices and processes during the pandemic to continue to deliver their services. In 2020 to 2021, the OPG processed an average of 53,000 LPA applications per month despite the many restrictions in place. This rose to an average of 60,000 per month in the last financial year, reaching over 70,000 in March 2022. The OPG have also hired extra staff, which is having an impact, with the number of LPAs being registered each month back to what it was before the pandemic.

The below table details the proportion of the lasting powers of attorney (LPA) registered between 2018 and 2022 within each of the timeframes.

The below table details the proportion of the lasting powers of attorney (LPA) registered within 2022 (1^st January to 31^st May).