New scheme for professional guardians
Background
Since the introduction of part 6 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 there has
been a significant increase in number of financial guardianship cases each year. To date we
are reviewing approximately 8,600 annual accounts and the following work is also
anticipated:
8,600 annual
reviews
7% increase in
cases since per
annum since
2011
1,700 new
financial orders
expected in
2016
1,000 renewals
expected in
2016
Internal review underway
Over the years there has been a marked increase in the volume of cases across the
operational teams. The department was restructured in September 2015 leading to
dedicated operational and support teams. We are currently reviewing and streamlining our
processes to help alleviate pressures at certain points in process.
Our resources
We are based in Falkirk and currently have 80 staff in the department. Staff resource is
dedicated to guardianship:
15 staff working on application
process up to inventory and
management plan stage
Guardianship team =
30 staff
15 staff working on account
reviews
The team expect a further 1700
new accounts for review this
year. This added to the historical
8,600 existing accounts to be
reviewed annually is the reason
for the continued backlog of
around 20 weeks.
This is unacceptable to us, and
we apologise and thank you for
your patience.
Given current economics we have to work smarter with what we have as we cannot expect
additional staff.
Tailored supervision
We currently have a ‘one size fits all’ approach to supervising guardians. This approach,
along with the increased volume of work, the outcome of our internal review and the
expected outcome of the United Nations audit, points to the need for tailored supervision.
1. Lay guardians tailored supervision
3 types of
review;
gold, silver
or bronze
Review type for all
other accounts will
depend on risk
scoring on 14 point
crietria
All 1st &
final
accounts =
gold review
2. Professional guardians’ scheme
Benefits
 Direct link for OPG training
and support
 Accounts review turnaround
quicker
 Remuneration can be taken
sooner
 Better quality of accounts
 Cheaper fees for cases
sampled
Membership is by “firm” i.e. solicitor, accountant firm
etc. The firm must have 5 or more cases to be eligible
to join.
Membership of the scheme is done by completing
our application form which asks for each of the cases
to be considered for the scheme.
The firm must nominate a ‘scheme owner’, who will
be a person within the firm who has authority to
address any issues in relation to the scheme or how
individuals with in the firm operate the scheme.
We will nominate an OPG account manager who will
manage your firm’s accounts.
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How will it work?
All 1st & final accounts
receive a full review
All other interim accounts
fall under the scheme
An account summary and
signed declaration
completed by financial
guardian
OPG review a random %
sample
Annual summary & declaration
The financial guardian completes this for any interim case falling under the scheme at the
end of the account period. The summary includes general information about the case, the
adult, balances and any changes since the last account. The declaration signed by the
financial guardian will confirm that the work carried out and that any fees and remuneration
taken are in line with the AWI Act and the Code of Practice issued by Scottish Government.
We will then call for a random % of cases to be submitted for a full review. For members
with experience of providing annual accounts the following will apply:
•Stage 1 – 100%
of accounts due
in first 3 months
•Stage 4 – 10%
accounts due pa
year two and
thereafter
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•Stage 2 – 50%
accounts due in
second 3 month
period
100%
50%
10%
25%
•Stage 3 – 25%
accounts due in
last half of year
one.
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For new members who do not have experience of submitting accounts, the following will
apply:
•100% of
accounts due in
first 3 months
•10% accounts
due year three
and thereafter
•50% accounts
due thereafter
for year one of
scheme
100%
50%
10%
25%
•25% accounts
due in year two
of scheme
We will charge the minimum fee of £76 per case selected. See appendix 1 for annual
summary and declaration form.
Clean accounts
Accounts falling under the scheme must meet a quality standard, which we refer to as being
‘a clean account’. We will operate a point system and score against a number of basic
questions. The point system will be applied to the accounts we randomly sample for the full
review. A pass mark will be set to ensure that accounts meet our standard. A copy of the
checklist can be found in Appendix 2
It is necessary to set a quality standard for accounts falling under the scheme to enable an
efficient review. Our experience shows that the quality of a high proportion of professional
guardian accounts leaves a lot to be desired. We often spend a considerable amount of time
and effort rectifying and amending accounts.
It is hoped that by establishing new relationship between OPG and the firm’s scheme owner
that the quality will improve and this will improve processing times.
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4
On-Going
Management of scheme
“Scheme Owner” will be allocated a
specific OPG review officer
The review officer works closely with
scheme owner, providing support,
assistance and feedback
If accounts not “clean” higher %
randomly sampled and/or the firm no
longer qualifies for the scheme
Compulsory training workshop
In March 2107 we will provide training workshops in various locations which the nominated
scheme owner (NSO) must attend. We recognise that the files, forms and accounting etc.
may not be processed by the financial guardian and strongly recommend that you make sure
the staff within your firm who do this work and submit the accounts also attend the training.
It will ensure clean accounts and continued membership of the scheme.


The workshop will last 2 hours and CPD hours will be credited
Sessions cost £99 (+VAT) for the Nominated Scheme Owner & £50 (+VAT) for others
The application form to join the scheme and attend the training can be found in Appendix 3
Appendices



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Appendix 1 – summary declaration & form
Appendix 2 - checklist
Appendix 3 – application form
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