Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Office of the Public Guardian in investigating a person with lasting power of attorney.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has processes in place to review the performance of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and hold it to account. The MoJ reviews OPG performance through a system based on the Cabinet Office requirements for sponsorship of public bodies.

We have no evidence OPG is failing to appropriately investigate allegations of abuse. The demand on OPG investigations has increased, so OPG is training additional investigators to meet demand, as well as process improvements to improve processing times. OPG continues to prioritise safeguarding concerns and reviews over 95% of all concerns received within 2 days. Whilst the time taken to conduct the investigation is longer than OPG’s target of 70 days, the investigations undertaken continue to be thorough and detailed, ensuring the right outcome is achieved.