- If you are a young person with a learning disability on guardianship your guardian is most likely to be your parent and your guardianship is likely to have been granted for an indefinite period.
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Parents are most likely to seek welfare guardianship powers at the point of transition from child to adult social services. For many, this is to maintain some control and input to the care and treatment their child receives.
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Almost a fifth of all private guardianship applicants said they did not have confidence in social work decision making.
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Two-thirds of parents find welfare guardianship useful; a third felt it makes little or no difference to their ability to influence decisions.
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Many private guardians are not aware of their statutory responsibilities. Only one guardian we spoke to was aware of their duty to keep records of how they had exercised their powers under the Act.
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Private guardians do not seem to be getting the information and support they need to properly fulfil their role. Social workers are a key source of information and support yet only two private guardians reported receiving information about welfare guardianship from their social worker.
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A quarter of private guardians reported that they had not seen their social work supervisor within the last 6 months. The majority of these guardians, however, said they were satisfied with the general level of social work input.
- A third of all private guardians said they had not received information from the Mental Welfare Commission regarding our safeguarding role.
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Many social work supervising officers seem to be unaware of their duty to visit both the guardian and the adult on guardianship.
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Mental Health Officer reports that relate to local authority guardianship applications are likely to be of a much higher quality than those prepared in relation to private applications. Local authority applications are likely to be accompanied by information that considers the application in light of the principles of incapacity law; alternative courses of action will have been considered/ tried, the views of the adult and other significant persons will have been sought, social background information will be more detailed and there is more likely to be comment on the powers sought and the benefits of these to the individual.
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Local authority supervising officers and responsible officers all referred to supervision as the main forum in which to discuss their role. The majority of social workers referred to informal support from MHO colleagues or to MHOs in specialist teams as sources of support . The Code of Practice was not cited by any social workers as being used as a guide in assisting them in carrying out their duties.
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A tenth of those interviewed said they received no preparation for their role as supervising or responsible officer. Most MHOs said their specialist training does not properly address supervisory and responsible officer responsibilities.
- Records of the exercising of powers are not adequately kept for young people on guardianship. Only one private guardian kept records. A review of social work notes showed that, in over 70% of cases where the Chief Social Worker was guardian, there were no records of statutory visits being made or of the powers being carried out on behalf of the Chief Social Work Officer.
- Where the powers of the guardian are delegated to another person this is often not formally recorded.
- Pro formas are used by some local authorities and these can provide a useful summary of how guardianship is operating for an individual and how statutory requirements have been met. The pro forma used by West Lothian Council is particularly helpful. It records the use of powers, the need for additional powers, evidence of how the principles of the Act are being observed, the names of those responsible for specific actions and completion dates.
- Care homes are much less likely to receive information about welfare guardianship arrangements and powers related to an individual in their care if that person has a private guardian than where Chief Social Work Officer has been appointed guardian.
- Where supervising officers do not supply care providers with the adequate information, individuals in care homes are more at risk of having their rights breached.
