Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Delayed discharges: A symptom of the challenges facing health and social care, which was published on 8 January 2026, what plans it has to carry out a workforce evaluation to understand the implications of the anticipated rise in demand for power of attorney or a guardianship orders associated with the recommendation in the report for "the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Healthcare Improvement Scotland, integration authorities and their partner NHS boards and councils [to] provide guidance on, and better promote public awareness of the benefits of, establishing a power of attorney or a guardianship order".
The Scottish Government welcomes Audit Scotland’s report and has asked the Collaborative Response and Assurance group, which is co-chaired by the Scottish Government and CoSLA to come together to consider these recommendations as a whole and develop a partnership approach to addressing them. The Scottish Government has begun this work and is engaged with key partners to discuss the delivery of Powers of Attorney and Guardianship processes.