Posted: Wednesday, 28 August 2024 @ 09:11
Here is an example of two very good parliamentary questions(done before the election of the Labour Government and the revealing answer):
Anneliese Dodds Party Chair, Labour Party, Chair of Labour Policy Review, Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities asks :
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many reported cases of fraud reported to the Office of the Public Guardian have been related to a Power of Attorney in the last five years; and how many of those cases resulted in (a) further action or (b) reference to the Court of Protection in that period.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many reported cases of fraud reported to the Office of the Public Guardian relating Power of Attorney were passed to the police or the CPS from the Office of the Public Guardian on the death of the alleged victim in the last five years.
Mike Freer Assistant Whip, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice responds:
From April 2019 to 31 October 2022, 15 fraudulently created LPAs were removed from the register following investigation. In 10 of these cases, the Public Guardian removed the LPA from the register. The Public Guardian referred the remaining 5 cases to the Court of Protection, which led to LPAs being subsequently removed.
Fraudulent LPAs currently represent less than 0.1% of all registered LPAs, which exceed 6 million. The OPG records the number of reported cases of fraud, but not the number that are passed to the police or the CPS on the death of an alleged victim. The OPG’s legal authority ends upon the death of a donor (the individual who has created the LPA). As a result, where there is alleged fraud following the death of a donor, OPG would advise the concern raiser to raise their concern directly with the police if they feel it is appropriate.