On 8 December, we held our second workshop with the MLPA working group. The workshop focused on two areas: solicitor incentives and the objection period.

We had representatives from Alzheimer’s Society, Age Cymru, Law Society, Solicitors for the Elderly, STEP, ADSS Cymru, UK Finance, Financial Conduct Authority, Building Societies Association and the Race Equality Foundation.

Solicitor incentives

Problem statement: 80% take up of the new system is needed to achieve OPGs sustainability and keep costs low. Up to 70% of applications are thought to be made with the assistance of a solicitor. We need solicitors to be able to work with the new system to achieve the business aim.

Opportunity statement: How do we work with solicitors to ensure that a future system meets their needs and supports OPG sustainability?

Attendees from the legal profession reaffirmed that many solicitors use case management systems. One requested that any future LPA service should integrate with these systems. There was some agreement that organisations should be able to use their own systems to fill in LPA forms, then submit them digitally to OPG.

Some concerns were raised about donors using a digital service to make an LPA without 3rd party support. OPG’s existing guidance was mostly praised, but some attendees felt more could be done to educate attorneys about their responsibilities. MOJ/OPG mentioned that there is little evidence of solicitors performing checks on attorneys. Attendees felt more could be done by both solicitors and OPG in this regard.

Digital signatures were seen as a concern by some solicitors, with fear that new technologies could lower safeguards and introduce unforeseen risk. However one solicitor stressed that some solicitors would be more open to change and would welcome the introduction of new digital approaches.

Objection period

Problem statement:

1. (who): Only objections raised by persons name in the LPA can be investigated by the OPG prior to registration. If a legitimate concern is raised by another party, it cannot be investigated.

2. (when): The statutory waiting period applies to all LPAs, even if there are no notified people and all parties agree to the LPA. This creates unnecessary delay in the process.

Opportunity statement:

1. How can we ensure that all legitimate concerns can be considered while minimising the risk of vexatious complaints?

2. How can we provide an appropriate mechanism for all parties, including third parties to raise concerns without creating unnecessary delay in the process?

Attendees agreed that the safeguards originally intended by the objection period had been lost or were possible to circumvent. Examples were given of people making general powers of attorney without any protections or using 3rd party mandates as workarounds.

It was also raised that some donors do not have friends or relatives they can ask to act as a person to notify. MoJ confirmed this was the reason for removing a previous requirement for there to be 2 certificate providers in certain cases.

There was discussion of the importance of the certificate provider in ensuring that the donor understands the LPA and the power they’re giving their attorneys. It was suggested that professionals acting as a certificate provider should take on more liability and be insured to take on the role.

Attendees felt more could be done to let people know that an LPA is being registered, and to make the process of objecting easier.

It was suggested that certain organisations should be allowed to object to an LPA’s registration. One attendee suggested solicitors could be allowed to object and so better safeguard clients. However, in a previous workshop, some solicitors suggested that their duty of confidentiality means they cannot always report concerns, even when they’re acting as certificate provider.

One attendee asked if there could be an option to register an LPA giving attorneys limited powers, until any objections had been resolved.

Several attendees were less concerned about raising objections before registration, as they felt abuse tends to become evident once the LPA is registered and being used. They suggested OPG should be able to suspend an LPA while concerns are investigated after registration.

Our next workshop

Our next workshop was on 15 December, and focused on the speed of the LPA service, and the role of application.