Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has considered the merits of expanding the functions of the Public Guardian to include responsibility for appropriate discharge of mental capacity assessments.

The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, which provides a framework for making decisions on behalf of adults who are unable to do so for themselves. The statutory Code of Practice issued under the Act provides guidance to practitioners on the conduct of capacity assessments in keeping with the principles of the MCA.

The Public Guardian is the statutory office holder created by the Act whose core functions relate primarily to registering lasting powers of attorney and supervising court appointed deputies. We have no current plans to expand these functions.