Appointeeships in general

I was aware that the DWP were reviewing their appointeeship procedures for compliance with the Equality Act. An equality Impact Assessment published yesterday suggests this is further on than I thought. The EIA is at:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/appointee-review.pdf

Headlines:
- only individual appointeeships are covered. Corporate appointeeships (most often involving Adult Social Services Departments) are not covered since they are allegedly regulated by the Care Quality Commission
- similarly cases with Court of Protection involvement are not covered
- for all other cases a postal system of application, assessment and approval is preferred instead of visits - cheaper
- reviews (postal) will be scheduled every 8 years for working age claimants, every 5 years for children and pensioners
- if concerns are raised about an existing appointee the Secretary of State will follow the guidance in the generic Agents,
Appointees, Attorneys and Deputies guide and contact Social Services.

Anyone know any more?

Is there an up to date form for applying for appointeeship? What and where is the Appointees, Attorneys and Deputies guide?

We have a lot of problems with DASS appointeeships which need tightening up. One concern is not claiming timeously so the client loses out. Another future concern, for instance,  is proposed spot £50 fines for failure to notify changes of circs.

Richard Atkinson

Agents , etc, guide on the DWP website.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/agents-appointees-attorneys/

This earlier thread may or may not add anything:
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/1882/