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Geographical variations in the use of welfare guardianship

 

 

AR-09-10-Table39

Our interest in this

We have reported over the years the variations in the use of guardianship from one local authority area to another and from one year to the next. Anybody may apply to be a welfare guardian and most applicants are now private individuals.  Local authorities have a duty under section 57(2) of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 to take forward applications for welfare guardianship wherever necessary when no-one else is making an application or is likely to do so. While the reasons for these differences are complex, local authority staff should review this data to help ensure that the Act is being used where necessary in their area both to safeguard the welfare and property of adults with incapacity and to assist relatives and carers.
Local authority managers will also wish to examine trends which might have implications for workload management and planning.


What we found

The above table shows that the rate per 100,000 of approved orders in 2009-10 ranged from six in Shetland and 11 in Midlothian, to 49 in Highland, 48 in Angus and 47 in Perth and Kinross.

What is very noticeable is the dramatic variation in orders granted in specific areas from one year to the next. Approved orders increased by 100% in Edinburgh and Clackmannanshire in one year, and decreased by 61% in Midlothian, 22% in Dundee City and 21% in Highland compared to 2008-09.

While orders doubled in Edinburgh, Glasgow actually saw a decrease of 4%. The increase in Edinburgh was due to a large increase in the number of private applications. The local authority applications there increased as well but only by 24% (itself not an insignificant rise). The fall in the rate in Highland Council was due exclusively to a lower number of local authority applications - down by 58%. Private applications there actually rose by 36%.

Private applications accounted for 68% of all applications with the Scottish average being 21 per 100,000. The Scottish average rate per 100, 000 for local authority applications was 10. Leaving out the island authorities due to the low population numbers, the rates for local authority applications granted ranged between 1 per 100,000 in east Dunbartonshire to 21 per 100,000 in East Ayrshire and Perth and Kinross.

Guardianship orders should only last as long as they are necessary and local authorities are given the authority to recall them when they are no longer needed. There were, however, only 12 recalls of welfare guardianship in the past year: 11 from Fife and 1 from Glasgow.

It would appear that this is an area of practice and procedure which needs to be reviewed by local authority practitioners and managers.