Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs of the continuing delays by the Office of the Public Guardian in granting Lasting Powers of Attorney to (1) individuals seeking Lasting Powers of Attorney, and (2) taxpayers.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is facing high demand to register Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) applications, including overcoming a backlog created during the pandemic. OPG is advising customers that the processing time for LPA applications is currently up to 20 weeks, including the statutory four-week waiting period.
Delays in processing LPAs have not led to any increased fee for customers who make an LPA application. OPG aims to achieve 100% cost recovery every year. In 2018/19 and 2019/20, OPG achieved 100.7% cost recovery. If full cost recovery is not achieved, then OPG’s costs are underwritten by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In the past few years full cost recovery has not been achieved, driven by low demand for LPAs during the pandemic. In 2020/21, MoJ provided £18.9m of taxpayer funds, and £9.16m in 2021/22. This financial position is improving and OPG is waiting for the audit to be concluded for financial year 2022/23, which will be published in due course in the OPG annual report.
The Government fully understands that delays in registering and dispatching LPA applications are frustrating for customers. To return to processing times achieved before the pandemic, extra staff have been hired, staff are working overtime and across multiple shift patterns, and process efficiencies have been introduced. The government is also supporting the Powers of Attorney Bill sponsored by Stephen Metcalfe MP. The Bill will enable modernisation of the process for making and registering an LPA, bringing in a new digital channel and improving the paper one. This will create a faster and simpler service for customers and make the system more resilient to future disruption.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the continuing delays by the Office of the Public Guardian in granting Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is facing high demand to register Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) applications, including overcoming a backlog created during the pandemic. OPG is advising customers that the processing time for LPA applications is currently up to 20 weeks, including the statutory four-week waiting period.
Delays in processing LPAs have not led to any increased fee for customers who make an LPA application. OPG aims to achieve 100% cost recovery every year. In 2018/19 and 2019/20, OPG achieved 100.7% cost recovery. If full cost recovery is not achieved, then OPG’s costs are underwritten by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In the past few years full cost recovery has not been achieved, driven by low demand for LPAs during the pandemic. In 2020/21, MoJ provided £18.9m of taxpayer funds, and £9.16m in 2021/22. This financial position is improving and OPG is waiting for the audit to be concluded for financial year 2022/23, which will be published in due course in the OPG annual report.
The Government fully understands that delays in registering and dispatching LPA applications are frustrating for customers. To return to processing times achieved before the pandemic, extra staff have been hired, staff are working overtime and across multiple shift patterns, and process efficiencies have been introduced. The government is also supporting the Powers of Attorney Bill sponsored by Stephen Metcalfe MP. The Bill will enable modernisation of the process for making and registering an LPA, bringing in a new digital channel and improving the paper one. This will create a faster and simpler service for customers and make the system more resilient to future disruption.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to establish an independent public advocate.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Government is committed to supporting bereaved families after public disasters and during public inquests.We have consulted on proposals to establish an independent public advocate and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government in respect of the offence of manslaughter by gross negligence (1) how many case have been prosecuted, (2) how many cases have been successfully prosecuted, and (3) how many convictions have been quashed on appeal, in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The law relating to manslaughter by gross negligence was clarified in the case of R v Adomako (1994) where a four stage test, known as the Adomako Test, was outlined by the House of Lords. Before convicting a defendant of gross negligence manslaughter a jury has to be satisfied that:
(a) that there was the existence of a duty of care to the deceased;
(b) that there was a breach of that duty of care;
(c) that the breach of that duty of care caused (or significantly contributed) to the death of the victim; and
(d) that the breach of the duty of care “departed so far from accepted standards” as to be characterised as gross negligence, and therefore a crime.
The Government takes the view that the Adamako Test continues to provide effective and appropriate guidance in aiding the determination of gross negligence manslaughter cases. In allowing Dr Sellu’s appeal, the Court of Appeal did not call for the law to be changed, and the Government has no plans to reform the law in this area.
The overall statistics on manslaughter are available in the ‘Criminal Justice Statistics’ series at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015. Statistics are not separately captured on whether a case of manslaughter occurred as a result of gross negligence.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the need for changes to the offence of manslaughter by gross negligence, in the light of the Court of Appeal ruling that the conviction of Dr David Sellu was not safe.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The law relating to manslaughter by gross negligence was clarified in the case of R v Adomako (1994) where a four stage test, known as the Adomako Test, was outlined by the House of Lords. Before convicting a defendant of gross negligence manslaughter a jury has to be satisfied that:
(a) that there was the existence of a duty of care to the deceased;
(b) that there was a breach of that duty of care;
(c) that the breach of that duty of care caused (or significantly contributed) to the death of the victim; and
(d) that the breach of the duty of care “departed so far from accepted standards” as to be characterised as gross negligence, and therefore a crime.
The Government takes the view that the Adamako Test continues to provide effective and appropriate guidance in aiding the determination of gross negligence manslaughter cases. In allowing Dr Sellu’s appeal, the Court of Appeal did not call for the law to be changed, and the Government has no plans to reform the law in this area.
The overall statistics on manslaughter are available in the ‘Criminal Justice Statistics’ series at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015. Statistics are not separately captured on whether a case of manslaughter occurred as a result of gross negligence.