Over the past few years Paul Cruickshanks of A&M Bacon has seen an increase in costs “disallowed” within Court of Protection assessments as they “should be claimed within the litigation proceedings”. In this article he explores the types of work that may be “disallowed” for these reasons and offer some advice and tips on how you can ensure this work is recovered.

1,126 applications relating to deprivation of liberty were between July and September 2018, up 5% on the number made in the same quarter last year. However, orders made decreased by 7% over the same period, from 569 to 610 respectively.  

Alongside those proceedings, 7,900 applications were made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), down 2%, 53% of which related to applications for appointment of a property and affairs deputy. In comparison, there were 9,148 orders made under the MCA, 9% down, 33% of which related to the appointment of a deputy for property and affairs. 

As for LPAs, 201,753 were received, up 4%. The rate of increase is now leveling off after the explosion of applications following the introduction of online applications in 2015. There were 2,480 Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) in July to September 2018, down 11% on the equivalent quarter in 2017. 

The full report and accompanying table can be found here. 

There were 1,166 applications relating to deprivation of liberty in April to June 2018, up 27% on the equivalent quarter in 2017 according to the latest Family Court Statistics bulletin published on 27th September.

This rise is in comparison with a 19% drop in the number of deprivation of liberty orders made over the same period.

​Other insights arising from the latest figures are that:

• there were 7,414 applications made under the MCA, down 3% on the equivalent quarter in 2017 (7,623 applications). 48% of these related to applications for appointment of a property and affairs deputy  
• in comparison, there were 9,050 orders made under the MCA, down 11% on the same quarter in 2017. 34% of the orders related to the appointment of a deputy for property and affairs 
• 197,836 LPAs were received up 2%, a slowing of the rapid increase in such applications following the launch of the online application service in 2015
• 2,423 EPAs were received down 18% 

The full report can be found on the Gov.uk website.

The latest Family Court statistics bulletin shows that the Court of Protection’s workload shows no signs of diminishing. 

For example, 38,945 orders were made under the MCA last year an increase of nearly 50% on 2016. However, the report authors ascribe some of that increase to a “clearance of outstanding cases during the first quarter of 2017, and volumes have increased generally due to improved recording of orders made by  regional courts."

Over a third (40%) of the orders made related to the appointment of a deputy for property and affairs

The number of LPAs received also rose, with 180,210 received in the last quarter of the year up 18% on the equivalent quarter in 2016. Over the entire year, the increase was 28%, though there has been a drop in the two most recent quarters. 

There were 2,552 Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) in October to December 2017, down 5% on the same quarter in 2016. Annually, there was also a decrease of 7% in 2017 compared to 2016, continuing the long-term downward trend. The table below illustrates this point.

The full report can be found on the GOV.UK website.

The numbers of applications for DoLs and LPAs have continued to rise sharply according to the latest court statistics from the Ministry of Justice.

Between April and June 2017, 919 applications relating to deprivation of liberty were made, that's an increase of 24% on the same period in 2016. The number of orders made almost doubled, from 375 to 689 respectively. (see also the graph below)

The figures also show that applications for LPAs continued their upward trend with 194,012 applications received, up 30%. Applications for  Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) though declined, with 2,953 applications received,  down 9%.

MCA applications remained steady with 7,623 applications (compared with 7,616 applications in 2016) but the authors note that the number of orders made increased by over 50% (10,205) driven, they say, by "a clearance of outstanding cases and an increase in the number of cases being dealt with by regional courts."

Further detail is in the Family Court statistics report available on the MoJ website.