§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will set up an inquiry into the way in which the Public Trust Office cares for and protects the assets of people who are, due to mental disorder, incapable of managing their own property and affairs.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe work of the Public Trust Office, and in particular the work connected with the administration of the financial affairs of mentally incapacitated adults, is presently, or is shortly to be, the subject of a number of reviews. The office is being reviewed by officials of the Lord Chancellor's Department as part of the Government's next steps initiative. The Comptroller and Auditor General has begun a value for money study of the work the Public Trust Office undertakes in the care and protection of mental patients' assets. In addition, the Law Commission is also undertaking work in this area. In view of these studies I do not believe it would be right, or necessary, to set up a separate inquiry.