I am disappointed to see that the Gazette continues to highlight criticism of efforts made by my office to improve services to customers. I think it’s wrong for the Gazette to portray the views of a vocal minority as the general (and current) position. It is true that there were significant delays to services in 2008, but these have been brought under control since last autumn. That’s not to say that we cannot do more to improve, and our business plan for the new financial year will set out our objectives in this regard.

We have listened to customers and stakeholders over the last year, consulting on key aspects of our services which we felt were in need of improvement – in particular the lasting power of attorney (LPA) forms. We have done that working with the profession and I’m pleased to say the feedback has been positive.

We have also acted on the wishes of the profession by introducing our new ‘Information for professionals’ section on the OPG website. This has been developed to provide information and guidance specifically aimed at legal and other professionals on LPAs, EPAs [enduring powers of attorney] and Court of Protection applications. We hope that the information will not only help avert errors in LPAs, but that it will provide useful guidance on a range of OPG, Court of Protection and MCA [Mental Capacity Act] issues of interest to this key group.

The pages are new and remain very much a work in progress. We will continue to develop them with further input from users and we have already received positive feedback from individuals within the profession.

Private client specialist Wrigleys has commended the clear and detailed guidance produced over the course of the last two years.

Wrigleys partner David Coldrick said: ‘The reality is that the OPG has suffered considerable criticism – some fair, some unfair – yet it seems to me that it is now genuinely refining its procedures and adding flexibilities. We need to support that attempt. My own view is that the resources it has always needed are now gradually being committed. It is also important that solicitors get to grips with the new processes. It is not always the fault of the OPG.’

In the coming months, I very much hope that the Gazette will begin to report some more of the positive perspectives on OPG and the improvements we are making.

Martin John, Public guardian and chief executive, Office of the Public Guardian