Adults with Incapacity Act - The developing local authority role

1
Adults with Incapacity Act - The developing
local authority role

• Tony Jevon
• Social Work Officer
• Mental Welfare Commission

2
Changing scene 1

• The increasing use of guardianship for younger
  adults with a learning disability often in
  transition to adult services (now 32 of all
  applications)
• The increasing granting of indefinite orders
  (70)
• The pressure on SW budgets competing demands
  for services already being squeezed
• Increased involvement of social work staff not
  trained in Adults with Incapacity Act
• Supervisor or delegate guardian is more likely
  also to be care manager and may have conflict of
  interest

3
Changing scene 2

• Pressure on NHS to reduce in-patient beds
  (further) and act on delayed discharges
• Increasing requests for orders sometimes where
  there is no current community resource identified
• Pressure to use 13za to avoid delays
• Adult Support and Protection adding to options
  available to social workers when addressing
  concerns

4
Local authority applications are reducing in
number

• Local authority applications are declining
• 520 in 2008 now under 450
• Some very significant swings around the country
  with Highland, Fife, Perth and Kinross and in
  particular West Lothian Council all dropping
  numbers and South Ayrshire, Falkirk, Dundee,
  Angus and East Lothian all increasing Adults with
  Incapacity Act activity relative to previous
  years. The islands too.

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LA Gship Orders 2010 11, sorted Per 100,000 (in
Red)
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The number of private applications continues to
increase

• Private applications have increased
• Both local authority and non-local authority
  orders are more likely to be indefinite
• Powers granted are very wide ranging
• Use of recall remains very small

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Approved Welfare Guardianship Applications 2002
- 2011

• 1521 Apr 10 - Mar 11
• 1358 Apr 09 - Mar 10
• 1230 Apr 08 - Mar 09
• 1125 Apr 07 - Mar 08
• 901 Apr 06 - Mar 07
• 755 Apr 05 - Mar 06
• 531 Apr 04 - Mar 05
• 398 Apr 03 - Mar 04
• 261 Apr 02 - Mar 03

8
Applications for Welfare Guardianship 2002 - 2011
by Applicant

• 82 of applications in 02 were made by Local
  Authorities - now 28
• 18 of applications in 02 were made by relatives
  - now 72

9
Approved Welfare Guardianship Private/LA Orders
2003 - 2011

• 1521 10 - 11
• 1230 08 - 09
• 1125 07 - 08
• 901 06 - 07
• 755 05 - 06
• 531 04 - 05
• 398 03 - 04

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New Practice Guide

• Supervising and supporting welfare guardians
• Jointly produced by MWC with SWIA
• Considers what local authority managers need to
  know and do
• Provides social workers with much of the
  information they will need to fulfil their role
• Contains templates for supervisor sessions and
  links to all relevant codes of practice and other
  sources

11
Good Practice Guide Discharging patients who
may lack capacity

• designed to assist staff in Health and Social
  Care partnerships in Scotland through the process
  of discharging patients from hospital who may
  lack capacity
• http//www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/1742
  0/GPGPresentation
• June 2010

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Local authority role under AWI

• Supervise a guardian appointed with welfare
  powers
• Consult the Mental Welfare Commission and Office
  of the Public Guardian on cases or matters where
  a common interest
• To receive and investigate complaints relating to
  the exercise of functions relating to the
  personal welfare of adult made in relation to
  welfare attorneys, guardians and persons
  authorised under intervention orders
• To investigate any circumstances in which the
  personal welfare of an adult seems to them to be
  at risk
• To provide welfare attorneys and persons
  authorised under intervention orders with
  information and advice
• To apply for welfare and/or financial
  guardianship orders where necessary and no other
  application is likely

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• What the law says about the local authority
  supervisory functions
• Section (10)(1) of the Act says a local authority
  must supervise a
• guardian in the exercise of their role.
• (NB A guardian includes a local authority
  guardian they must be supervised in their role
  too)
• What the law says about supervision visits
• A supervisor must visit from time to time but
  within 3 months of an order being granted and at
  least every 6 months subsequently
• (SSI 2002 (95) as amended by 2005 (6))
• There is no scope for flexibility.

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Role of the line manager

• Provide information and advice
• Provide training on the 2000 Act to ensure staff
  taking on the supervisors role have skills and
  knowledge
• Monitor workload management
• Provide staff supervision and professional
  development

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Role of the supervisor

• Be familiar with the purpose of supervision and
  the different roles of the supervisor and care
  manager
• Be well prepared for the supervision visit
• Know what information needs to be provided by the
  guardian
• Be confident about when to vary, recall, or seek
  directions and know where to get advice

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The Future 1

• Scottish Law Commission review of AWI
• A discussion paper in 2012, aim to report in 2014
  
• Defining deprivation of liberty recent cases in
  England
• If a local authority seeks to regulate, control,
  compel, restrain, confine or coerce it must,
  except in an emergency, point to specific
  statutory authority for what it is doing or else
  obtain the appropriate sanction of the court
  Honourable Justice P Jackson, Hillingdon v Steven
  Neary
• Legal challenge to indefinite orders based on
  ECHR

17
The Future 2

• Self directed support - changing how services are
  purchased and by whom new appropriate person
• You will get a sum of money to spend on the
  support you need instead of receiving council
  services SDS Website
• OPG tentatively exploring idea of a guardianship
  lite in some circumstances
• Integration of Health and Social Care