HMCTS and court administrationHMCTSCourt of Protection:HMCTSCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionHMCTS:functionsHMCTSCourt of Protection:HMCTSCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionHMCTSCourt of Protection:HMCTSCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionHMCTSCourt of Protection:HMCTSCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionHMCTS:branches/sectionsHMCTSCourt of Protection:HMCTSCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionCourt of Protection:authorised court officersCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionAuthorised court officersCourt of Protection:authorised court officersCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionAuthorised court officersCourt of Protection:authorised court officersCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionAuthorised court officersCourt of Protection:workloadCourt of Protection:number of applicationsCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionCourt of Protection:workloadCourt of Protection:number of applicationsCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of ProtectionCourt of Protection:budgetCourt of Protection:administrationCourt of Protection
4.15The Lord Chancellor is under a duty to ensure that there is an efficient and effective system to support the carrying on of the business of the Court of Protection and that appropriate services are provided for it.
1Courts Act 2003 s1(1)(aa).4.16In practice, this duty is discharged day-to-day on the Lord Chancellor’s behalf by an agency called Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
COURT OF PROTECTION JUDGES | HMCTS |
Managed and led by the Lord Chief Justice and the President | A responsibility of the Lord Chancellor |
Support system provided by HMCTS | Responsible for ensuring that the judges have the system and support which they require |
4.17The Lord Chancellor may appoint such officers and other staff as appear to him or her appropriate for the purpose of discharging this general duty.
2Courts Act 2003 s2(1).4.18As at October 2016, the court had an agreed complement of 86 HMCTS staff. In addition, the Office of the Public Guardian funds five staff members to scan court orders.
4.19HMCTS court staff (‘officers’) are organised into a number of branches or sections, as described in the table below:
COURT OF PROTECTION — ADMINISTRATION AND CASE WORK |
Branch/Section | Responsibilities |
•G1 Branch (Receiving and Issuing Applications) | •Making up case files •Issuing applications •Interim directions •Fast-tracking cases •Applications for permission •Issuing applications |
•G2 Branch (Draft Orders Team) | •Processing applications to appoint a deputy •Processing routine personal welfare applications •Processing applications from existing deputies •Receiving and processing certificates of service and acknowledgments of service (including objections to applications) •Applications within proceedings •Preparing standard drafts of court orders |
•G3 Branch (Issuing Orders team) | •Issuing and dispatching final orders •Dispatching security bond forms •Dealing with bond defaulters •Scanning orders to the Public Guardian |
•Judicial Support Team (including the regional and appeals team) | •Ushering hearings •Dealing with cases that require listing for an attended or telephone hearing •Case transfers to and from a regional court •Statutory Will, gift and settlement applications •Issuing most orders and directions made by a judge at a hearing •Dealing with applications to vacate or re-list a hearing •Appeals |
•Authorised court officers (ACOs) | •ACOs are civil servants who have been authorised to exercise designated court functions of a purely formal or administrative character which previously were exercised by the judges. |
•Technical Specialists | •Deprivation of liberty applications •Applications for personal welfare orders •Transfer of welfare cases to regional courts •New trustee applications •EPA and LPA objections and directions •Public Guardian applications •Requests for visitor reports under section 49 •Appointing panel deputies •Orders discharging deputies (recovery/retirement) |
•Customer Enquiry Service (CES) | •Court’s telephone service •General email inquiries •Dispatching court forms to users |
Authorised court officers
4.20A number of civil servants known as authorised court officers (‘ACOs’) are authorised by the Senior Judge or the President to exercise the jurisdiction of the court in the circumstances set out in Practice Direction PD3A.
3COPR r7A. This rule came into operation on 12 December 2011.4.21An authorised officer may not conduct a hearing and must refer to a judge any application or question arising in an application which is contentious or which, in the opinion of the officer, is complex, requires a hearing or for any other reason ought to be considered by a judge. The relevant person concerned (‘P’), a party and any other person affected by an order can apply to have an authorised officer’s order reconsidered by a judge.
APPLICATIONS THAT MAY BE DEALT WITH BY AUTHORISED COURT OFFICERS (COPR r7A; PD 3A para 2.1) |
2.1 Subject to paragraphs 2.2, 3 and 4.2 an authorised court officer may deal with any of the following applications: (a)applications to appoint a deputy for property and affairs; (b)applications to vary the powers of a deputy appointed for property and affairs under an existing order; (c)applications to discharge a deputy for property and affairs and appoint a replacement deputy; (d)applications to appoint and discharge a trustee; (e)applications to sell or purchase real property on behalf of P; (f)applications to vary the security in relation to a deputy for property and affairs; (g)applications to discharge the security when the appointment of a deputy for property and affairs comes to an end; (h)applications for the release of funds for the maintenance of P, or P’s property, or to discharge any debts incurred by P; (i)applications to sell or otherwise deal with P’s investments; (j)applications for authority to apply for a grant of probate or representation for the use and benefit of P; (k)applications to let and manage property belonging to P; (l)applications for a detailed assessment of costs; (m)applications to obtain a copy of P’s will; (n)applications to inspect or obtain copy documents from the records of the court; and (o)applications which relate to one or more of the preceding paragraphs and which a judge has directed should be dealt with by an authorised court officer. |
4.22The case management powers of authorised officers are limited to those matters referred to in PD 3A para 3.
Workload and number of applications
4.23On average there was a three per cent year-on-year increase in the number of applications tothe Court of Protection during the three-year period between 2013/14 and 2015/16.
Year | No of applications |
2008/09 | 19,528 |
2009/10 | 21,042 |
2010/11 | 23,093 |
2011/12 | 24,586 |
2012/13 | 24,913 |
2013/14 | 25,296 |
2014/15 | 26,379 |
2015/16 | 27,333 |
4.24There were 715 court hearings in London and 1037 outside London in 2014. The 2015 figures were 586 and 1405 respectively as a result of the further development of regional hub courts.
The court’s budget
4.25Published Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data is quite old because of the time it takes to collect data and the need for auditing. Consequently, it is difficult to establish the court’s current budget. However, the HMCTS management accounts for 2011/12 indicate an annual expenditure of £4.1 million.
4In line with civil courts generally, the Court of Protection fees are expected to fully cover the cost of administering the court although some funding from central government is inevitable because provision is made for fee exemptions, remission and postponement.