Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to bring into effect (a) the provisions in the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 to enable the families of missing persons to look after the financial and legal affairs of their relatives and (b) all other provisions of that Act which have yet to be commenced.

The Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act received Royal Assent in April 2017. The Government remains committed to bringing the Act into force as soon as possible. This depends upon the creation of the necessary secondary legislation and administrative systems in the courts and the Office of the Public Guardian to define and support the working of the new procedure.

Due to the demands of work on pressing government priorities, the officials responsible for the necessary legislation have not been able to complete preparation of the draft legislation as quickly as they had hoped. As the work is at a relatively early stage, the Government is not currently able to confirm a date for commencement, but intends to set out its approach to commencement by the Summer Recess.