Office of the Public Guardian review 2023 to 2024: summary
Published 14 November 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) completed a review of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The review was part of the government’s Public Bodies Review Programme. It was started in October 2023 and concluded in May 2024.
Background to OPG
The role of the Public Guardian for England and Wales was created under the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on 1 October 2007; the Public Guardian is appointed by the Lord Chancellor under section 57 of this Act.
The OPG is an executive agency (EA) of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and was created to support the Public Guardian in the discharge of their statutory functions under the Mental Capacity Act and the additional functions from the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2007. The Public Guardian’s responsibilities cover England and Wales with separate arrangements covering Northern Ireland and Scotland. OPG’s principal responsibilities are:
- registering lasting and enduring powers of attorney (LPA & EPA)
- supervising deputies appointed by the Court of Protection
- supervising guardians appointed by the High Court
- maintaining the public registers of deputies, guardians, LPAs & EPAs and responding to requests to search the registers
- investigating representations (including complaints) about the way in which attorneys, deputies and guardians are exercising their powers
Purpose of the review
The review, conducted in line with Cabinet Office Public Bodies Review Guidance was carried out to provide assurance that:
- OPG’s functions remain useful and necessary
- OPG is effective, efficient and aligned to government priorities
- OPG is well governed and properly accountable for what it does
Conclusion and recommendations
A stage 1 review concluded that the OPG and the MOJ are compliant with the majority of Cabinet Office good practice indicators for departments and public bodies. Areas of strong compliance with good practice indicators include outcome for citizens, financial management and accountability.
Three areas for improvement have been identified. These relate to:
- an externally facilitated review of Board effectiveness
- sharing non-executive appraisals with the MOJ
- transparency around Board members’ interests
The review team has made proportionate recommendations to address the areas where a need for improvement has been identified.
As well as reviewing organisational purpose and identifying areas for improvement, the stage 1 review considered whether the OPG and the MOJ would benefit from wider exploration of the areas where improvement is needed. At this stage, the review team is satisfied that a further in-depth review is not required and has made the following recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Externally facilitated review of the effectiveness of the board
There has been no externally assisted review during the past three years. OPG intend to wait until the new non-executive director (NED) board chair is in post before undertaking an external review. The review team notes that an appointment of a new board chair should take place in late 2024 and recommends that an external review is undertaken as soon as possible after the appointment of the new board chair. If the new board chair appointment is delayed, the review team strongly recommend the interim board chair starts the review.
Recommendation 2: Sharing appraisals of Non-Executive Directors with the department:
Appraisals of OPG’s NEDs have taken place in 2023, however these have not been shared with the MOJ. The Review Team recommends that records of future appraisals of OPG’s NEDs are shared with the department in a timely manner in line with relevant guidance.
Recommendation 3: Publication of the register of interests for board members:
NEDs are asked to declare any conflicts of interests and directorships and these are recorded with all declarations made at the start of board meetings and published in the relevant year’s annual report. The register of interests is not currently published. The review team recommend publishing the register of interests (based on an agreed set of consistent criteria on what is published and with members made aware of this) to support transparency around OPG’s work and membership.