Statement
My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Bridget Prentice) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Office of the Public Guardian’s annual report and accounts for 2008-09 has been laid before Parliament today. This document gives full details of the agency’s performance and expenditure for the 12 months from 1 April 2008, and includes the Public Guardian's annual report to the Lord Chancellor about the discharge of his functions pursuant to Section 60 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
A revised version of the Public Guardian Framework Document has also been placed in the Libraries of both Houses to reflect recent changes to the governance structure of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). References to the OPG’s responsibility for the Court of Protection’s administrative functions have been removed, reflecting the move of the Court of Protection from the Office of the Public Guardian to Her Majesty’s Court Service on the 1 April 2009. The document now also reflects the OPG’s new clearer governance arrangements. This now consists of two boards—the statutory Public Guardian Board and the OPG’s Executive Board—following the removal of the OPG Agency Board as a third board in the previous structure.
Copies of the Office of the Public Guardian Framework Document will also be available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office and from the website of the OPG at www.publicguardian.gov.uk.