To judge from the government's volte-face on home information packs, showing Gordon Brown prefers to avoid policy debacles that might impair his electoral prospects, and practical concerns expressed by solicitors up and down the country attending my lectures on the Mental Capacity Act 2005, now is the time for solicitors to lobby the government on the serious issues arising from the new lasting power of attorney (LPA) regime, coming into effect on 1 October.


No one can dispute the good intent of the Act or its value in extending decision-making powers from finance to health and welfare matters.



However, well-intentioned legislation is a colossal waste of national resources if unworkable (as with the packs) or under-utilised in practice.



The new LPAs involve a massive training programme, both within and outside the profession. It is therefore lamentable that the latest draft LPA forms have languished in consultation limbo for months and remain unavailable to solicitors specialising in the field, whilst the legislators are denied access to the expertise of those best able to comment on the practical problems and costs involved.



Solicitors should therefore lobby the media and MPs to make it clear that clients, who were prepared to grant enduring powers of attorney (EPAs), are unlikely to take on the increased burden of:

l digesting the new 26-page LPA forms (compared to the four-page form for EPAs) and 52 pages if two forms are used to appoint health and welfare as well as financial attorneys;

l paying substantially increased legal and court fees; and

l coping with bank officials, Public Guardianship Office staff, certificate providers and others who will have difficulty in mastering such a complex brief.



These problems mean increased delays and escalating costs, which is why most of us are now advising our clients to sign EPAs before the 1 October deadline.



It makes little sense to build a multi-million pound hotel with 1,000 rooms for a 10% occupancy rate. By the same token, if the Act is to fulfil the government's stated aim of 'empowering mentally incapacitated adults', it must cater for the needs of most of them, rather than just the few who can afford to take on the additional burdens.



Solicitors concerned for the welfare of vulnerable, elderly clients should take immediate steps to ensure the government does not allow this to happen for lack of access to our professional expertise and practical input.



Trevor Lyttleton, solicitor and chairman of Contact the Elderly, London