Clause 10 - Appointment of donees
Mental Capacity Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Paul Burstow (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; Sutton and Cheam, Liberal Democrat)
In our discussions on clause 9 and schedule 1, we dealt with issues such as how LPAs are registered and what can and cannot be included in them. I was attempting then to explore the safeguards. This group of amendments is also about safeguards, but safeguards at the other end of the process rather than safeguards once an LPA has been triggered and the authority granted under it is being exercised by the donee. This group does not propose a safeguarding mechanism through the Office of the Public Guardian. It deals with clause 10 concerns; it aims to ensure that what qualifies a person to act as a donee, and the disqualifications that would bar them from acting as a donee, are drawn slightly wider.
My aim is to address concerns that the Making Decisions Alliance and other organisations have put to me. When the authorities know or reasonably believe that a person has been involved in abuse of adults, a register is now provided for under the Care Standards Act 2000. Individuals are added to it in those circumstances; again, appropriate safeguards apply. These amendments are designed to ensure that if someone is seeking to set up an LPA, they can check whether a person is on the POVA—protection of
vulnerable adults—register. Therefore, people can at least assure themselves that they are covered in that regard when they agree to give over financial or welfare authority at the point at which they start to suffer from some lack of capacity.