Updates from the Office of the Public Guardian

Appointment of New Public Guardian

Fiona Brown has been appointed as the new Public Guardian and Accountant of Court. She succeeds Sandra McDonald who was the Public Guardian and Accountant of Court for 14 years. Ms Brown has been Deputy Public Guardian and Accountant of Court since 2015 and took over as Public Guardian and Accountant of Court with effect from 1 August 2018.

Professional Guardians Scheme

Following our update in June, the Office of the Public Guardian's (OPG) professional guardianship scheme has now closed to new applicants. The scheme, originally launched in May 2017, introduced a sampling approach to reviewing annual accounts submitted by professional financial guardians.

The firms that have already joined the scheme are experiencing faster processing times and therefore quicker access to remuneration. Eligible firms must be acting as financial guardian for at least five cases and need to nominate a scheme owner (NSO) who will attend a mandatory half day workshop.