About us

Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) helps people in England and Wales to stay in control of decisions about their health and finance and make important decisions for others who cannot decide for themselves.

We do this by:

  • helping people plan for someone to make decisions for them, should they become unable to do so because they do not have mental capacity
  • supporting people to make decisions for those that do not have the ability to decide for themselves

We carry out the legal functions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017.

Our responsibilities

We’re responsible for:

  • taking action where there are concerns about an attorney, deputy or guardian
  • registering lasting and enduring powers of attorney, so that people can choose who they want to make decisions for them
  • maintaining the registers of attorneys, deputies and guardians
  • supervising deputies and guardians appointed by the courts, and making sure they carry out their legal duties
  • looking into reports of abuse against registered attorneys, deputies or guardians

Our priorities

Our current priorities are to:

  • understand our customers better and plan ways of measuring how well we are meeting their needs
  • provide more digital services
  • work with partner organisations to improve our service, and ensure it can be accessed by all our users

Corporate information

Access our information

Jobs and contracts

Read about the types of information we routinely publish in our Publication scheme. Find out about our commitment to Welsh language scheme. Our Personal information charter explains how we treat your personal information. Read our policy on Social media use. Find out About our services.

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