Public Trust Office (Hansard, 8 June 1998)

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what guidelines are followed by the Public Trust Office on consulting relatives when a transfer of receivership is proposed. [43673]

§ Mr. Hoon
The guidelines followed by the Public Trust Office to consult relatives when a transfer of receivership is proposed are set out in the Court of Protection Rules 1994 at rule 27.

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many clients under the supervision of the Public Trust Office have suffered financial losses under its supervision in each year since 1990. [43671]

§ Mr. Hoon
No client under the supervision of the Public Trust Office has suffered a financial loss since 1990. Any loss that has occurred as a result of a mistake by the Public Trust Office is made good.

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the number of clients under the supervision of the Public Trust Office in each year since 1990. [43672]

§ Mr. Hoon
It is only from the 1993/94 financial year that caseload figures in the Public Trust Office have been monitored on the same basis year on year. Although figures prior to 1993/94 exist, they have not been formulated in the same manner as those available from that date. On this basis, I am able to provide the figures from 1993/94 which include those cases in the Trust and Funds Sector of the Public Trust Office, as well as the Mental Health Sector caseload:

1993–94—261,603;

1994–95—262,409;

1995–96—284,619;

1996–97—297,195;

1997–98—302,506.

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list how many times a complaint against the Public Trust Office has been referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner; and how many were upheld, for each year since 1990. [43685]

§ Mr. Hoon
No separate records are available before 1995 as, prior to the Public Trust Office being established as an executive agency on 1 July 1994, complaints referred to the parliamentary Commissioner were not separately recorded. Since 1995, one formal complaint has been received from the Parliamentary Commissioner412W which he is currently investigating and he has made preliminary inquiries into three complaints which were taken no further.

§ Mr. Faber
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many complaints were received by(a) the Public Trust Office and (b) his Department in respect of the operation of the Public Trust Office in each year since 1990. [43674]

§ Mr. Hoon
I am able to supply the figures for each financial year from 1990–91. However, it should be noted that the introduction of Charter Standards by the Public Trust Office, to coincide with the launch of the Office as an executive agency on 1 July 1994, together with the recommendations made by the Citizen's Charter Complaints Task Force, meant that, from 1994–95, complaints were monitored in a more rigorous and consistent fashion across the Office.
The figures for each year from 1990–91, showing the number of complaints received by the Public Trust Office, and the number of complaints received by the Lord Chancellor's Department in respect of the operation of the Public Trust Office, respectively are as follows:

1990–91: 64 and none;

1991–92: 101 and none;

1992–93: 115 and none;

1993–94: 136 and 13;

1994–95: 169 and 8;

1995–96: 331 and 21;

1996–97: 443 and 33;

1997–98: 512 and 20.