Power of Attorney registrations facing delays of up to three months

Registration of powers of attorney are facing delays of up to three months, Scotland on Sunday reports.

A Scottish government document revealed that the system is struggling to deal with the increased demand in vulnerable people who wish to settle their affairs.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie (pictured) discovered the backlog after one of his constituents in North East Fife, Dr Christopher Fraser, told him he was being made to wait 13 weeks to grant power of attorney to his wife.

Mr Rennie wrote to the Scottish government and received a reply from community safety minister Annabelle Ewing who said the Public Guardian has seen a 40 per cent rise in registration submissions in the past two years.

She said: “To give some context, since January 2017 to August 2017, nearly 53,000 powers were submitted for registration. A small number of additional posts have been authorised and additional agency staff have been trained. The Office of the Public Guardian has also been able to fund weekend overtime hours for current employees, specifically to address the power of attorney backlog.”

She added: “As I hope you appreciate, the Public Guardian is well aware of the difficulties and continues to take action to improve registration times. I will continue to monitor closely the operation of the Office of the Public Guardian.”

Mr Rennie said: “Waiting for 13 weeks to register a power of attorney must seek like an age for those waiting. This extended delay will compound the anxiety and stress felt by the applicant who is making the decision to hand over control of their own affairs to someone else.

“It’s traumatic enough without this long wait. The demand for a power of attorney is expected to increase in the years to come as the dementia time bomb hits. Around 90,000 people have dementia in Scotland and that is set to increase further in future years.

“The reply from the minister is inadequate as a paltry increase in staff will fall well short of what is required. We need a recognition from the government that this backlog is unacceptable and that it will take action to get it under control.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Since July there have been significant improvements in the turnaround time, with for example the percentage of electronic powers of attorney awaiting processing and exceeding the 30-day target reducing to 25 per cent compared to 65 per cent at the end of July. The Office of the Public Guardian has an expedited process in place for those applicants who have an urgent need for early registration.”