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)
Given the way in which the amendments are drafted, I have been slightly concerned about whether it would be right for there to be a more open possibility of a much wider range of people having access to the POVA register than is currently envisaged. That issue may be one of the points of rebuttal to this group of amendments, but if it is not I am even happier.
I want the Minister to clarify whether, as the hon. Member for Daventry suggested, there can be some means whereby a person can satisfy themselves, before they appoint a donee, that that person is not on the POVA list, which is there to safeguard vulnerable adults. Surely it would be unfortunate if an individual who may, at some point, foresee the possibility of their becoming a vulnerable adult by dint of losing some capacity to make decisions, could not avail themselves of that information while they have capacity, to ensure that they had that protection at a later stage. That also applies to court-appointed deputies: the court could satisfy itself not just about their financial propriety and the fact that they were not bankrupt, but that they had been checked against the POVA register.
Amendment No. 163 poses the other question. What if a person appoints a donee, who has had a POVA check and is fine when the lasting power of attorney is registered, but at the point at which the donor loses capacity it transpires that the donee has subsequently been registered on the POVA list? What further safeguard arises at that stage? The amendment is intended to explore the Government's attitude to that question. There should be provision in the Bill to ensure that if a donee were placed on the POVA register later, and the donor, having lost capacity and not in a position to be aware of that change, the appointment could be revoked. This group of amendments is about such safeguards.
I will not speak to the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Daventry, although they attempt to deal with some of the issues affecting qualifications and disqualifications, and I have some sympathy for many of them.