Simplifying Administrative and Reporting Processes for Deputies Appointed under Mental Capacity Act

2 Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry will review the administrative and reporting framework for deputies appointed under the Mental Capacity Act, with a view to simplifying procedures and easing the compliance burden, while maintaining safeguards for the persons they serve.

The Minister of State for Social and Family Development (Mr Goh Pei Ming) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, under the Mental Capacity Act, Court-appointed deputies must submit an annual report to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). This report is an important safeguard against potential abuse as it requires deputies to set out how they have discharged their responsibilities under the Court order, which includes accounting for decisions made on behalf of the mentally incapacitated persons and how they have managed such persons’ property and affairs.

The Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) has been working to reduce the burden for deputies, including online submission of reports and a built-in finance tracker. OPG organises monthly workshops to guide deputies to fulfil responsibilities and requirements for the annual reports. And for deputies who require help with filing, OPG also provides personalised support.

Mr Speaker: Ms Phua.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I thank the Minister of State for his response. On the ground, we have heard recurring feedback from families and these are not just families with persons with disabilities, but also with seniors who, for some reason, have lost some of their capacities. My Parliamentary Question arises from all these recurring feedback.

There were two sets of issues normally cited. Despite what the Minister of State mentioned that OPG has been doing. The first set is around the difficulties when they apply for deputyship. Usually, many of these families have limited access to knowledge and guidance, they do not even know where to go. Despite a simplified process, it is actually not so simple. Most applicants, especially those who are not so educated or not so proficient in English, do require hands-on guidance. And without it, the process is quite daunting. Also, for deputyship, unlike the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), it is more costly and administratively burdensome as well.

There are also difficulties after deputyship orders are made. Like the Minister of State mentioned, the annual report; it is not so easy for people to even fill up. Some of my volunteers, including lawyers who help them, find it is not so straightforward for those post deputyship burdens —

Mr Speaker: Ms Phua, do you want to ask your supplementary question?

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Yes. Also, their banking constraints as well. The banks are not very consistent in supporting these families.

So, my supplementary question would be this: would MSF take a lead in setting up a small, maybe inter-agency work group, even including volunteers, to look into these problems that are really faced by the deputies who are family members and try to coordinate the efforts to assist them. And then, make the information available for them.

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her supplementary question. I believe the Member can appreciate that the scope of responsibility required of a deputy is much broader. The Member made comparisons to the LPA process. Indeed, for deputies, they do have to exercise quite a lot more responsibilities and these can vary quite widely depending on what the Court decides upon.

Having said so, I acknowledge the comments and feedback from the Member. We thank the Member for the feedback. We welcome that. We regularly and continuously engage key stakeholders, including deputies and prospective deputies, as well as members of the public. We will continuously review how we can improve both the application process and the reporting process, as well as the overall user experience in going through the deputyship journey.

Mr Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Pioneer): To add on to the Member's point: the resources required to do a deputyship is a couple of thousand dollars, and time and effort. It is especially problematic when it comes to having to deal with amounts of those who have lost mental capacity and the amounts may not be a lot of money, but you need it for sustenance or maybe to settle some debts or some payments, particularly of caregivers, relatives, friends, even neighbours.

Is there a way to set some threshold where we allow maybe a statutory declaration or something else, rather than a full deputyship, to be able to handle this? Because now, increasingly, you have cases of dementia. We may be doing a lot of efforts at LPAs, but there are those who fall outside of it. This is a suggestion for MSF to look at, but can we set some thresholds with banks and financial institutions where we are able to withdraw those monies to pay for simple bills, rather than be in debt which then rolls on?

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Mr Speaker, we note the Member's suggestion. We will take a look at it.