Contact: Paula Hallam, ext: 7718

1 Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

1.2 To endorse the action of the Director of Social Services in accepting applications and renewals of guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983 on behalf of the County Council during the year 1^st January 2001 - 31^st December 2001.

1.3 To make an order not to discharge those individuals from the guardianship of the County Council.

2 Reason(s)

2.1 The decisions are necessary because:

2.2 The Adults' Services Sub-Committee delegated its functions in relation to the acceptances into, renewals and transfers of guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983 to the Director of Social Services (or nominated officer) on 25 July 1997. Endorsement of the Director's actions therefore occurs through this annual summary report.

2.3 The County Council retains the power to order the discharge of individuals who are under guardianship and must therefore make a formal statement that it has decided not to discharge those individuals who have been received into guardianship during the annual period of the report.

3 Other options considered and rejected

3.1 None.

4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision-maker or a Member or Officer consulted

4.1 None.

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable.

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable.

Approved by: Date of decision:

Councillor Felicity Hindson

Contact: Paula Hallam, ext: 7718

1 Recommendations

1.1 That the action of the Director of Social Services in accepting those original applications and renewals of guardianship on behalf of the County Council be noted and endorsed.

1.2 That an order be made not to discharge those individuals from the guardianship of the County Council.

1.3 That it be noted that between 1^st January 2001 and 31^st December 2001 the guardianship orders for twelve individuals have been discharged by the relevant responsible medical officers.

1.4 That it be noted that between 1^st January 2001 and 31^st December 2001 the guardianship orders for two individuals have not been renewed and have lapsed.

2 Summary

2.1 This report advises the executive member of the number of people subject to the guardianship of Hampshire County Council Social Services Department under sections 7 and 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in the period 1^st January 2001 and 31^st December 2001. It also requests endorsement of the action of the Director of Social Services in accepting applications and renewals of guardianship on behalf of the County Council, and that an order be made not to discharge those individuals from the guardianship of the County Council.

3 Introduction

3.1 This annual report details the number of individuals subject to the provisions of guardianship under sections 7 and 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983. It also provides details of the gender, ethnicity, age and category of disorder (as described in section 1 of the Mental Health Act 1983) of those subject to guardianship during the relevant annual period. The figures for guardianship in Hampshire will be presented mainly in table format.

3.2 Adults' Services Sub-Committee 25 July 1997 agreed that the reporting of guardianship activity should be an annual summary report rather than the reporting of each individual guardianship case, as had previously been the format. The Committee also delegated its functions in relation to the acceptances into, renewals and transfer of guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983 to the Director of Social Services (or nominated officer).

4 The Powers and Purpose of Guardianship

4.1 Section 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983 provides for guardianship with the local social services authority (or a named individual) on the recommendation of two doctors and an application by an approved social worker or nearest relative. Under section 37 a court can also make a guardianship order.

4.2 Section 8 of the Act sets out three guardianship powers:

i) the power to require residence

ii) the power to require attendance at a specified time for the purpose of medical treatment, occupation, education or training

iii) the power to require access by a doctor, approved social worker or other person specified by the guardian.

4.3 Guardianship is used for a number of purposes e.g.:

- Ensuring that there is a proper legal framework within which to make care decisions where a person lacks mental capacity (particularly older persons with dementia requiring residential care);

- Encouraging younger persons with severe mental illness to stay in one place and not drop out of services;

- Enabling access to be given to socially withdrawn individuals who would otherwise refuse services at home leading to neglect;

- Preventing exploitation by relatives or other carers.

4.4 Guardianship does not, however, provide any powers in relation to financial affairs. There are several measures that could be taken if someone subject to Guardianship needed assistance and/or protection in dealing with their own finances:

- If they did not have the mental capacity to manage their own finances an application could be made to the Court of Protection to appoint a Receiver to manage their finances. The responsible social worker would receive advice and assistance in this regard from the Receivership Unit.

- If they had capacity but needed assistance with their benefits, the Benefits Agency could authorise a third party to act as Appointee in order to claim and collect welfare benefits to which the client was entitled.

- Finally they could give Enduring Power of Attorney to the person or persons they wished to manage their financial affairs. If they then became mentally incapable of dealing with their own finances the Attorney would apply to the Court of Protection to register the Power as Enduring and take over the financial management.

5 The National Perspective

5.1 The annual figures from the Department of Health for the year ending 31 March 2001 demonstrate that the total number of guardianship cases in England continues to rise steadily: in 1994 there were 487 ongoing guardianship cases, however the number had risen to 1,035 by 2001. In the year to 31 March 2001 there was a 4% increase in the number of open cases from the previous year.

5.2 The national figures continue to illustrate Hampshire County Council's positive and pro-active use of guardianship. In the South East Shire Counties and Unitary Authorities, Hampshire had accepted the highest number of new cases during the year (11) and had the second highest number of open cases (22).

6 New Orders - Acceptance into Guardianship in Hampshire

7 All Guardianships in Hampshire

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters in which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. the list excludes:

1 Published works

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None.