My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, has made the following written ministerial statement.

“My Department has today published the Government response to the consultation on new rules of court for the new Court of Protection established under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The consultation ended on 6 October 2006 and 39 responses were received. The consultation response provides a summary of responses and the next steps in light of the consultation. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 establishes a new specialist court, to be known as the Court of Protection, with a new jurisdiction to deal with decision-making for adults who lack capacity. This court will have important structural differences from the current Court of Protection. The new court will be able to make decisions both, as the current court can, about property and affairs (the term used in the Act to describe the financial decision-making jurisdiction) and also about personal welfare matters including health care. The new Court of Protection will begin operating from October 2007.”