Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to respond to an email from Lesley Taunton dated 18 October 2022.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) have assured me that they will be providing a response to both Sir Oliver’s correspondence to OPG dated 18 October, and Ms Taunton’s correspondence by 28 November.

I apologise for the delay in full responses to their correspondence being provided. OPG is currently experiencing backlogs in processing Lasting Power of Attorneys (LPAs) and the corresponding increase in correspondence has had an impact on OPG’s ability to respond to complaints within the target. OPG understands the importance of customers receiving timely responses to complaints. To improve the service OPG is recruiting more staff to process LPAs and to respond to complaints, carrying out overtime and making improvements to internal processes. We are pressing ahead with plans to digitise LPA applications, making the process simpler and quicker for customers.