The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has announced the appointment of 22 new Court of Protection General Visitors and the re-appointment of a further six. 

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.