Service Appointee Practice Guidance Under The New Zealand Transport Industry

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1 SERVICE AREA: TITLE STATUS: COMMUNITIES DIRECTORATE ADULT SOCIAL CARE Practice Guidance to assist all Local Authority staff in acting as appointee on behalf of a person in receipt of a service. GUIDANCE REF. NO. GUI 6013 / 2009 DATE ISSUED: August 2008 REVIEW DATE: August 2010 EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT: STATUS WRITTEN BY: APPROVED BY: Dave Stacey Carolyn Kus Assistant Director BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Its intention is to provide staff with further supportive information in cases where a person is being considered under the Local Authority s Appointee Policy. RELATED FORMS: Form No: Description: Date Issued: BF56 DWP Application for appointment to act on behalf of someone else

2 LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL COMMUNITIES (ADULT SOCIAL CARE) Appointee Practice Guidance Practice Guidance to assist all Local Authority staff in acting as appointee on behalf of a service user August

3 Contents Section Title Page 1 Introduction 3 2 Role of Appointee 3 3 Code of Conduct 7 4 Mental Capacity Act Safeguarding Adults 10 6 Bank accounts and supporting user s to manage their finances 11 7 Changing of Appointee 13 8 Guidelines on referring cases to the Treasury Solicitor 13 9 Confidentiality and Sharing Information

4 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview This practice guidance is issued in support of the following documents: Appointee Policy - Circumstances in which the Local Authority will act as appointee on behalf of a service user Appointee Procedures - Procedures for the Local Authority to follow when seeking to act as appointee on behalf of a service user It is aimed at staff working in both Adult Social Care and Business Support. It s intention is to provide staff with further supportive information in cases where Adult Social Care service user s are being considered under the Local Authority s Appointee Policy. 2 Role of Appointee 2.1 DWP defined responsibilities The DWP form BF56 Application for appointment to act on behalf of someone else sets out at Part 8 the roles and responsibilities of appointee s as set out below. Roles and responsibilities If it is accepted that Lincolnshire County Council can act for the person named at Part 1, Lincolnshire County Council will become responsible for dealing with their social security affairs and Inland Revenue tax credit affairs. This includes claiming and receiving: social security benefits social security pensions social security allowances Inland Revenue tax credits Any money that Lincolnshire County Council receive on their behalf must be used in their and their dependant s best interest. For example: paying their fees for a nursing or care home or carer towards meeting everyday living costs

5 However, if they are in a nursing or care home, Lincolnshire County Council must ensure that the specified amount of personal allowance is paid over each week for the benefit of the person named in Part 1. Lincolnshire County Council will have to tell the person s Department for Work and Pensions or Inland Revenue office straight away if there is a change in the person s circumstances which could affect their benefit. A list of changes, which must be reported, is given in the notes issued with the first payment of benefit. If you do not have a copy of the list of changes you must report, you can get one from your social security or Inland Revenue office. Examples of changes Lincolnshire County Council must tell DWP about are when the person: changes address changes name has a child leaving school goes into or comes out of hospital, including coming out of hospital on leave becomes well enough to manage their own affairs intends to be absent from Great Britain for any period dies This list is not exhaustive. If the person you named in Part 1 dies, please tell your Jobcentre Plus office, social security office, Pension Centre or Inland Revenue office straight away if their payments were being made direct into an account. return any cheque payments you have for them As appointee Lincolnshire County Council will also be responsible for letting DWP know if there are any changes in your name address contact number account details If an overpayment happens If an overpayment of benefit occurs, Lincolnshire County Council may be required to repay the overpayment depending on how the overpayment arose. See Part 4. Lincolnshire County Council will be responsible for repaying any overpayment of benefit that happened because you knowingly made an untrue or incorrect statement about Lincolnshire County Council or the person named in Part 1-4 -

6 failed to report a change in Lincolnshire County Council s circumstances, e.g. a member of staff moving position failed to report a change in the circumstance, which you knew about, in respect of the person named in Part 1 failed to obtain relevant information about the circumstances of the person named in Part 1. NOTE: If any of the above occurs then the Operations Manager acting as appointee may be subject to disciplinary actions as per Lincolnshire County Council s Code of Conduct (see section 3 of this guidance for more information on this code) How long can I be an appointee? Lincolnshire County Council will be an appointee until the person Lincolnshire County Council are an appointee for becomes well enough to manage their own affairs the person Lincolnshire County Council are an appointee for dies, or Lincolnshire County Council or the Department for Work and Pensions or Inland Revenue decide to end the arrangement because it is not working properly Lincolnshire County Council wish to end the arrangement because Lincolnshire County Council no longer wish to continue as an appointee. If Lincolnshire County Council wants to end the arrangement you must write to your Department for Work and Pensions or Inland Revenue office, giving them at least one month s notice. Additional information for organisations All appointees are responsible for the collection and administration of the person s social security benefits, pensions and allowances and Inland Revenue tax credits. If the organisation nominates a representative to carry out the appointee duties on their behalf, the organisation remains responsible for the management of the person s affairs. Organisations should therefore make any nominated representatives aware of their responsibilities to both the organisation and the person named at Part 1 and will need to provide them with a letter confirming they are authorised to act on behalf of the organisation. This certificate can be found on form BF57. If you are acting as a representative within an organisation, there are some aspects that need to be considered in addition to those already mentioned. When quoting the appointee details, it is the organisation details that must be given and not those of an individual. You will need to contact us if any of the following details change the organisation name the organisation address, including postcode - 5 -

7 phone and fax number the organisation ceases to exist, for example, a nursing or care home closes bank account details 2.2 Additional Information In cases which the Local Authority deals with, no personal details of staff members are recorded on DWP computer systems. Local DWP Officers retain a list of employees who are authorised by the organisation to deal with clients day to day financial matters. The appointee on the DWP system is entered as a 'Corporate Other Payee' under the name Lincolnshire County Council. Before any contact with DWP you will need to know the service user s National Insurance Number and/or their date of birth If the service user is under 60 years of age then the BF56 should be sent to Jobcentre Plus at the following address: Job Centre Plus, Lincoln Orchard St Job Centre, First Post House, Brightside Lane, Brightside, Sheffield, S6 2XX Telephone: If the service user is aged 60 or over then the BF56 should be sent to The Pension Service at the following address: The Pension Service, PO Box 13, Birmingham, B99 1AP Telephone: If the service user is only in receipt of disability benefits then the BF56 should be sent to the Disability and Carers Service at the following address: Midlands Disability Benefit Centre PO Box 34 Birmingham B99 1AR Telephone:

8 2.3 Lincolnshire County Council Role of Appointee The person who will act in the capacity of the nominated representative for Lincolnshire County Council will be the Operations Manager within Business Support. This means that this will be the person who effectively acts, on a day to day basis, as the appointee. The decision on Business Support taking on responsibility for undertaking appointeeship work took account of the following key aspects: There should be no conflict of interest between the role of nominated representative and the staff s substantive work; There should be no personal relationship between the nominated representative and the service user which may place the Operations Manager at risk of potential allegations of abuse, e.g. service user is a family member or friend of the nominated representative. If the Operations Manager is aware of any such conflict of interest then they should request another Operations Manager take on the role of nominated representative in that particular case; The position of the role in the organisation should mitigate possible risks associated with staff being accused of financial abuse, e.g. someone undertaking a regular role in caring for the user may not be best placed to also act on the users behalf; The numbers of nominated representatives should be of a manageable number to allow effective administration of the policy and procedures 3 Code of Conduct 3.1 Lincolnshire County Council Code of Conduct The purpose of the Council s Code of Conduct is to supplement an employee s terms and conditions of employment and to support the County Council s values, standards and behaviours. The details of the code are set out in leaflet POEL14 which is available via the County Council website. All staff acting in the role of appointee on behalf of a service user should have regard to the guidelines in this leaflet. For information, the key sections to the code are as follows: 1. Honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity An employee must perform his/her duties with honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity

9 2. Accountability An employee must be accountable to the authority for his/her actions. 3. Respect for others An employee must: a) treat others with respect, b) not discriminate unlawfully against any person; and c) treat members and co-opted members of the authority professionally. 4. Stewardship An employee must: a) use any public funds entrusted to or handled by him/her in a responsible and lawful manner, b) not make personal use of property or facilities of the authority unless properly authorised to do so. 5. Personal interests An employee must not in his / her official or personal capacity a) allow his/her personal interests to conflict with the authority s requirements; or b) use his/her position improperly to confer an advantage or disadvantage on any person. 6. Registration of interests An employee must comply with any requirements of the authority: a) to register or declare interests; and b) to declare hospitality, benefits or gifts received as a consequence of his/her employment. 7. Reporting procedures An employee must not treat another employee of the authority less favourably than other employees by reason that that other employee has done, intends to do, or is suspected of doing anything under or by reference to any procedure the authority has for reporting misconduct. 8. Openness An employee must: a) not disclose information given to him/her in confidence by anyone, or information acquired which he/she believes is of a confidential nature, without the consent of a person authorised to give it, or unless he/she is required by law to do so; and b) not prevent another person from gaining access to information to which that person is entitled by law

10 9. Appointment of staff a) An employee must not be involved in the appointment or any other decision relating to the discipline, promotion, pay or conditions of another employee, or prospective employee, who is a relative or friend. b) In this paragraph 1) relative means a spouse, civil partner, partner, parent, parentin-law, son, daughter, step-son, step-daughter, child of a partner, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or the spouse or partner of any of the preceding persons; and 2) partner in sub paragraph (1) above means a member of a couple who live together 10. Duty of trust An employee must at all times act in accordance with the trust that the public is entitled to place in him or her. 4 Mental Capacity Act 2005 The Mental Capacity Act (2005) provides the framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of individuals who lack the mental capacity to do these acts or make these decisions for themselves. 1 The Council and its staff work in a professional capacity to support people who lack mental capacity, and therefore have a duty to comply with this Act. The legal framework provided in the Act is supported by the Code of Practice, which provides guidance and information to help us work in the best interests of adults who lack capacity. Local procedures are available, including assessment of capacity forms, to support staff in dealing with service users where they suspect there may be a mental capacity issue. The Council s Appointee Policy - Circumstances in which the Local Authority will act as appointee on behalf of a service user and its relevant procedures have been developed in accordance with the legislation and the Code of Practice and adopts the presumption of capacity and the principle of equal consideration, as quoted from the Code 2 : Every adult should be assumed to have capacity to make a decision unless it is proved that s/he lacks capacity. An assumption about someone s capacity cannot be made merely on the basis of the person s age or appearance, condition or aspect of his/her behaviour. 1 Department for Constitutional Affairs (2007). Mental Capacity Act 2005 Draft Code of Practice. p.12 2 Department for Constitutional Affairs (2007). Mental Capacity Act 2005 Draft Code of Practice. p

11 Whilst the DWP Appointee Policy sits outside the scope of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, DWP may appoint another person to receive and deal with social security benefits payable to someone who is 'unable to act' for themselves. DWP procedures for authorising a person to act on behalf of someone else follow the same principles as the Mental Capacity Act 2005 although the focus in more towards capacity to manage financial matters. DWP guidance states that it s employee s should assume that clients are capable until they demonstrate otherwise. It goes on to say that staff should not assume someone is incapable due to their level of ability to communicate or due to where they live, e.g. in a nursing home 3. 5 Safeguarding Adults Before the case is referred for appointeeship action, the referring practitioner should check for indications of financial abuse. The referring practitioner s assessment of risk is an ongoing process within Adult Protection, just as in other areas of social care practice. It is important to consider when and how individuals might be vulnerable to financial abuse - as part of the wider assessment of the individual s needs and risks - and to take reasonable measures within care plans to prevent this happening. In undertaking their role, the Business Support Operations Manager should remain mindful of the Council s duty and commitment to safeguarding vulnerable adults and respond appropriately if financial abuse is suspected. Examples of financial abuse may include the misuse and/or misappropriation of the individual s monies, benefits and /or property or falsifying documents and using them fraudulently. If financial or other forms of abuse are suspected, refer to the multi agency Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults in Lincolnshire Policy & Procedures and follow reporting procedures. DWP are a member of the multi agency steering group for this policy and so contact details for any local officers involved in an investigation as part of a referral for appointee action should be passed onto DWP as part of the application to take on the appointeeship to ensure DWP have a local contact point within their organisation. In order to ensure that family members or care organisations are not inappropriately contacted and to enable the Business Support Operations Manager to effectively set up the 3 Agents, Appointees, Attorneys and Receivers Guide, DWP, 2005, para

12 appointeeship it is necessary to inform the Operations Manager of any pending or ongoing safeguarding adults investigation as part of the referral by adult social care. This will enable the Business Support Operations Manager to liaise with DWP and ensure that, if necessary, the current appointeeship is revoked. Dependent on the seriousness of the allegation it may be necessary, as part of the safeguarding investigation, to revoke the appointeeship from the alleged perpetrator. In these cases close liaison with the Investigating Officer will be required in order to inform the alleged perpetrator of the Local Authority s intention to take on the appointeeship until such time as the investigation has been completed. If a local DWP officer is involved in the investigation then adult social care should include their details in the referral so that the Business Support Operations Manager can include these local DWP contact details as part of the application to act on the service user s behalf This is especially important if it will be necessary as part of the application to request the revoking of a current appointeeship. 6 Bank accounts and supporting user s to manage their finances 6.1 General issues In most cases the individual will need support in managing their day to day living costs by either a social worker providing this as professional support or via an agreement with the provider. It is for the adult social care worker to decide the most appropriate route via which the user can be supported to do this. Supporting the user s management of day to day living costs should be done by the worker who supports the user requesting cash to be withdrawn from the account and the local office holding this securely until such time as the worker is able to collect it. In cases where unforseen expenses arise, offices should be able to provide cash of up 50 and then balance this with money from the user s account afterwards. The Operations Manager will need 3 working days notice if an amount of over 50 is needed in cash. It may be more appropriate for larger expenditure, e.g. single items over 50 in value, to request a cheque for the amount required rather than cash. In considering the most appropriate way to assist the service user in managing their finances, consideration should be given to ensuring that any assistance provided to the user is supportive of the independence of the service user. Care should also be given to ensure that,

13 wherever possible, the user is supported to make decisions themselves about how their money is spent. If the bank account balance accumulates an amount which may mean that the service user s benefits are affected, then the Operations Manager will need to refer their concerns to the area team so that they can liaise with the user about how they may wish to spend some of their capital to improve their quality of life. It is important that, in such cases, the Local Authority do not advise service user s on how they might invest their money. If the user wishes to consider this then they should be guided to obtain independent financial advice. 6.2 Bank accounts in the service user s name Some individuals may choose to handle limited amounts of money through a bank account in their own name. Care should be taken to ensure that the risks associated with this course of action are managed as effectively as possible. This should be in liaison between the Operations Manager and the Practice/Partnership Manager. Consideration should be given to the following key points: Type of bank account (one which does not have other benefits attached to it such as overdraft facilities). It may be worth considering opening the account with banks which offer Basic bank accounts in order to manage the risk of debt; Has the user previously suffered financial abuse which, opening an account in their own name, may place them in a position of risk to possible future financial abuse; Are they able to remember their PIN number? If not, what steps can staff supporting the user take to ensure they do not place themselves at risk of allegations of abuse, e.g. consider the following bullet point (NOTE: It is not appropriate for Lincolnshire County Council staff, or staff working for care providers with whom the Council contracts services from, to knowingly have access to a service user s PIN number as this places staff and the Local Authority in a unacceptable position of risk); Customers who are unable to use a PIN because of a disability (but not merely as a matter of preference) are able to continue to sign when paying by card. If a bank account is being set up then it is important the bank is notified of this as they will need to issue a chip and signature card; The service user may not have capacity to manage their finances completely, e.g. agreeing debt repayments or setting up direct debits, but they may be capable of managing day to day living expenses. The decision on this should be

14 taken by the social work team and communicated to the Operations Manager who can then work with the team to make the necessary arrangements; The decision with regard to the appropriateness of the bank account is one for the Operations Manager to take once all the information has been passed to them by the social work team. 7 Changing of appointee In most cases the DWP will seek to visit the service user to confirm that they lack capacity to manage their own affairs. If the application is being submitted by the Local Authority then they will usually accept the evidence provided by the social work team in support of the user s capacity. In some cases they may still seek to visit the user and the social work team should be notified of this if DWP inform the Operations Manager this is the case. DWP guidance to its staff states the following with regard to this: When the authorised signatory for a corporate body changes it may not be necessary to carry out a separate interview with the new person. A form BF56 should be completed by the new authorised signatory. You should satisfy yourself that the new person understands their role and responsibilities. If there is any doubt then you should take whatever steps necessary to explain their role e.g. face to face interview or phone discussion. The organisation will need to provide the employee with a letter of authority authorising that person to act. 4 This letter will be provided to all Operations Manager and signed by the Assistant Director for Adult Social Care. 8 Guidance on referring cases to the Treasury Solicitor The Treasury Solicitor acting on behalf of the Crown has issued the following guidelines. These provide advice and guidance on what steps to take when a person dies to try and identify any will, next of kin or surviving relatives prior to referring the case to the Crown to deal with the estate of the deceased. 4 Agents, Appointees, Attorneys and Receivers Guide, DWP, 2005, para s

15 THE TREASURY SOLICITOR BONA VACANTIA DIVISION GUIDELINES FOR REFERRING ESTATES TO THE TREASURY SOLICITOR Background The Treasury Solicitor (TSoL) acts on behalf of the Crown in dealing with the solvent estates of people who die without a Will (intestate) and without known kin. These estates are known in law by the Latin term bona vacantia, which means 'ownerless goods'. Before you consider referring an estate to the TSoL, you should ask yourself the following questions: Did the deceased leave a valid Will and, if so, can I contact the executor and beneficiaries? Can I get in touch easily with any blood relatives entitled to the estate? Is the estate insolvent? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you should not refer the estate to the TSoL as there will be someone else entitled to deal with it - a relative, a person named in the will as executor or beneficiary or, if the estate is insolvent, a creditor The following notes are intended for you to use as a guide when deciding whether to refer any particular case to TSol. The last section gives more details concerning small estates with a net value of 5,000 or under, which are dealt with differently Wills Firstly, you need to know whether someone other than TSol should deal with a deceased person's estate. If someone has died testate (ie they left a valid will), the Executors can apply for a Grant of Will and Probate or the Residuary Beneficiary can apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration with the will annexed. Is There A Valid Will? A will is usually accepted as valid by the Probate Registry if it: is signed by the deceased and two witnesses; is dated; and clearly indicates the deceased's wishes

16 It does not have to be: drawn up by a solicitor; or name an executor; or written on a printed Will form Please note that once a service user dies the Local Authority has no duties or powers of entry into a service user s property to attempt to find a will (see section 5.4 of the Procedures for more information on our legal responsibility once a service user dies.) Can I contact the executor or beneficiaries? If you have what appears to be a valid Will, you should write to the executor informing them of the person's death and asking them to take over the administration of the estate. If you get no reply and someone different is named as beneficiary, you should write to them explaining what has happened, suggesting that they approach the Probate Registry. Where no executor is named, you should write directly to the beneficiary. Where there is a valid Will and an entitled relative the Will takes precedence. It may be that you don't have the Will but you believe that there is one (perhaps because of a note amongst the deceased's papers suggesting that the Will is held by a firm of solicitors or a bank). In this case you should write to whoever may hold the Will, asking them to pass details of the person's death on to the executor. If you hold any assets or have a claim against the estate yourself, it's a good idea to ask for the executor's name and address so that you can pursue the matter. What if I can't contact the executor or beneficiaries? It won't always be possible for you to get in touch with the people named in the Will. If it's old, for instance, they might have moved away from the addresses given or might have died. People often make a Will naming one person as executor and sole beneficiary and then forget to make a new one if that person dies. In these cases, even though the Will may be legally valid, the deceased's wishes can't be carried out, so you should proceed as if there is no Will at all. But if the case is referred to TSoL, you should send the Will if you have it. As above, please note that no legal powers exist for the Local Authority to enter the service user s property once they have died and so no such attempt should be made in order to try and identify possible executor s or beneficiaries

17 Kin Can I get in touch with entitled relatives - and how hard should I try? If you may intend to report a death to TSoL either because you hold assets or personal property or because you wish to make a claim against the estate, you should first of all make 'reasonable enquiries' to find out if the deceased has left a Will or entitled relatives. Before you involve TSoL, they will expect you to have written to the address of any possible relative that you've found, either in the our own case papers or from a brief search of the deceased's papers to which you have access. A good source of information is a diary or address book, which might contain entries in the deceased's maiden name if she was a married woman. If you're responsible for arranging the funeral and you're writing to relatives by marriage (who are not themselves entitled) or to friends of the deceased, you could ask them for help in tracing a Will or any entitled relatives. Your enquiries don't need to be extensive. If you write to a possible relative and get no reply, we would then be responsible for making any further enquiries that might be necessary. Who Is An Entitled Relative? If there were no valid Will to the contrary, the deceased's husband or wife, and then any children would have first claim on the estate. If a marriage has ended in divorce, the ex-spouse is not legally entitled but the divorce wouldn't affect the rights of any children. If there's no living spouse or child, a general rule is that anyone descended from a grandparent of the deceased would be entitled to share in the estate. Anyone legally adopted has the same rights as if he or she had been born into their adoptive family. They do not retain any rights of the family into which they were born. Similarly, if a deceased person was adopted then only their adoptive family have these same rights to his or her estate, if there is no will. Legal adoptions have been possible since January Please note TSoL can only administer the estate of someone who has not been survived by any blood relatives. TSoL cannot act if: you trace an entitled relative who is unwilling or unable to deal with the administration of the estate, or you trace an entitled relative but subsequently lose contact with that person, or find out that they've since died

18 If there is confirmation that the deceased has been survived by an entitled blood relative, TSoL can't get involved, even if the relative dies, disappears or refuses to act. If this occurs then legal advice should be sought. Solvency Is the estate insolvent? The estate is insolvent if the deceased has left more debts than funds to settle them. If this happens, any money must be used to pay the debts. Funeral expenses are the first legal charge against any estate. So the funeral director (or, if their bill has been paid by someone else, the person responsible for paying it) has first claim. Only when this bill has been paid can anyone else including other creditors make a claim on what's left. You should not refer insolvent estates to TSoL. They will not accept the case as there'll be nothing for them to collect once the creditors have been paid. What is the value of the estate? If the estate is only marginally solvent, it may still be uneconomical for TSoL to get involved - see Small Estates below. Small Estates When an estate consists only of cash of 500 or less, the case does not need to be referred to TSoL. In these cases you need to be sure there is no legitimate claim on the estate. Any such claims may be legitimate up to 30 years after the date of death meaning the Local Authority may be liable to repay the money for up to 30 years. It is therefore necessary to keep the service users case file noted that there is an account and the amount held in it. When an estate consists of a cash residue of over 500 but under 5,000, you should refer the case and send the send details of account only to TSoL at the same time. In all these small cases, TSoL would assume that you're not aware of any entitled relatives and that the deceased died without a Will. In all cases TSoL will need to have at least the following information: the deceased's full name and marital status; the actual date and place of their death (and, if this a residential home or hostel, the date of the deceased's admission and their last private address if admission was recent); and

19 if the deceased died at or had recently occupied a private address, confirmation that the tenancy has been terminated, that no rent is due and that furniture and belongings have been disposed of. TSoL guidance states that If there are personal belongings that you don't think have any saleable value, you can dispose of them as you wish. If you believe that some of them (usually jewellery) may have value, you can arrange to sell them through a local firm of reputable auctioneers. Local legal advice is that we should only sell goods if we are confident there are no potential beneficiaries and the beneficiary will be the Crown. There is no duty on the Local Authority to do house clearance for people who die in the county and so any action should be limited to the cases where we hold property already, by virtue of out duties under protection of property or because we act as receiver/deputy. If an estate has a net cash value of 500 and belongings that appear to be saleable, these should be sold and if the net estate then exceeds 500, you should refer the case to TSoL. Funerals Lincolnshire County Council has no legal powers or duties to make funeral arrangements for anyone unless they are being provided with residential care under section 21 of the National Assistance Act Where no other arrangements are made it will fall to the relevant District Council to make the arrangements in accordance with their duty under section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act Get in touch If you're in any doubt about whether an estate should be referred to TSoLs or if you need any further information regarding bona vacantia or TSoL requirements, please get in touch. Treasury Solicitor's Department (BV) One Kemble Street London WC2B 4TS Telephone: /3117 Fax: bvinfo@tsol.gsi.gov.uk How to refer a case to TSoL You can refer a case to TSoL using the Notification Form (Form BV1A) which you'll find on our website at or you can telephone us for a copy on /7. When you're sending papers and valuables to TSoL, please follow the procedures below

20 1. All documents of value such as Title Deeds and Share Certificates should be scheduled and sent by Recorded Delivery. 2. Credit/debit and store cards should be cut before you send them, to avoid fraud. 3. All bank or building society passbooks should be scheduled and sent by Recorded Delivery. 4. Please don't send cash through the post. 5. Please make cheques payable to The Treasury Solicitor, and write the case reference and name of the deceased on the back. 6. Please keep jewellery somewhere safe until we send you instructions on how to dispose of it. 9 Confidentiality and Sharing Information The individual s personal information is protected by the Data Protection Act (1998) and Lincolnshire County Council policies, which commit to high standards of protecting people s personal information. Adult Social Care Staff do not have access to information about the individual, which the Business Support Operations Manager obtains in the course of their work, unless there is a specific reason to disclose this such as in the course of a Safeguarding Adults investigation. All staff should be familiar with the Local Authority s corporate Data Protection Procedures as well as Lincolnshire Social Care Records Management Policy both of which are available on George. Disclosure and use of Information is also covered by the Code of Conduct (see section 3 above) and the Local Authority s Freedom of Information Policy. Reference to these should also be made where further guidance is required. The Mental Capacity Act (2005) Draft Code of Practice 5 offers a useful checklist, which explores some of the most important considerations when information is being requested or disclosed. This may assist staff in their work with regard to appointeeship. 5 Mental Capacity Act 2005 Draft Code of Practice for Consultation