The government has poured vast sums into the NHS, while denying adequate financial support for the elderly and mentally infirm, who constitute some of the most vulnerable members of our society.


The serious backlog of delays at the Office of the Public Guardian, which adversely affects mentally impaired elderly clients, is a direct result of inadequate funding and proper planning for the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act. 



One can only sympathise with Richard Brook, the Public Guardian, in having to contend with an increasing list of complaints from solicitors and the public arising from the breakdown in the system, while being denied adequate resources to recruit staff of the right calibre and to ensure they are properly trained before and not after their new skills are required.



Solicitors who rightly wish to lobby for constructive change and prompt and effective access to the Court of Protection and the Office of the Public Guardian, must ensure that the funding issue is promptly addressed by Parliament. They can achieve this by sending their complaints to Justice Secretary Jack Straw, rather than by adding to the substantial backlog of unanswered letters piling up in the in-tray of the Public Guardian.



Trevor Lyttleton MBE, solicitor, founder and chairman, Contact the Elderly, London