Ministry of Justice decides not to proceed with small payments scheme

Today, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has responded to the results of its own consultation on the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and the introduction of a small payments scheme.

The proposed change to the act would have made it easier to access the small funds (less than £2,500) of those who lack capacity but do not have lasting power of attorney or a Court of Protection (CoP) order.

The MoJ has decided to not proceed with the scheme on the basis that raising awareness of the MCA and its digital application process will address key problems faced by respondents to the consulation. 

In our consultation response, we broadly agreed with the need for a small payment scheme and suggested that it could have been run by the CoP rather than a financial services firm.