Powers of Attorney: Elderly

Mr. Paice
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what timing targets have been set for the Office of the Public Guardian to respond to (a) correspondence and (b) requests for an interim order to enable assets of an elderly person to be handled.

Bridget Prentice
The targets set for the Office of the Public Guardian and Court of Protection are set out in the Service Standards booklet which is available from the Office of the Public Guardian website.

The Office of the Public Guardian’s commitment is to respond to 95 per cent. to correspondence (including letters, faxes and e-mails) within 15 working days of receipt.

The Office of the Public Guardian does not have a separate service standard in respect of requests for an interim order to enable assets of an elderly person to be handled but we would expect to place any request for interim directions before a Court of Protection Judge within 10 days of receipt.