280 January 2018 - Gryffe Advertizer

january 2018
Legal Blog
by Isabella McKerrow, Affinity Family Law
Powers of Attorneys
and the Role of the Public Guardian
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Having a Power of Attorney “POA” in place lets you plan what you want
another person to do for you in the future should you become incapable
of making decisions about your own affairs. Previously, I explained the
benefi ts of having a “POA” in place, no matter what age you are, and the
different types of POA’s that are available.
The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 gives the Public Guardian
“OPG” the following duties and responsibilities relating to Powers of
Attorney:
• To register POA’s that meet the registration criteria.
• To maintain a public register of continuing and welfare POA’s.
• To provide advice and guidance to continuing attorneys on the
exercise of their powers.
• Certain powers to investigate concerns and take steps to safeguard
fi nancial matters of the adult where it appears they are at risk.
For a POA to become effective it must be registered with the OPG. The
fee for registration is currently £74. If you are in receipt of certain benefits
you may qualify for a fee exemption. Most solicitors will recommend that
the POA is registered straight away. Some people may take the view not
to register straight away as they may never need to use it, thereby saving
£74. Before the OPG will register the POA, they carefully scrutinise it to
ensure it complies with the criteria of the 2000 Act. If they reject it and the
adult has already lost capacity it may not thereafter be possible to correct
the error. Consequently the POA is ineffective and resort will have to be
made to the lengthy and expensive process of applying to the court for a
Guardianship Order.
(For more information on the role of the Public Guardian and about
Powers of Attorneys visit the website: www.publicguardian-scotland.gov.
uk- Telephone: 01324 678300)
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Preparing for the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR)
Awareness
You should make sure that decision makers and key
people in your organisation are aware that the law is
changing to the GDPR. They need to appreciate the
impact this is likely to have.
Information you hold
You should document what personal data you hold,
where it came from and who you share it with. You
may need to organise an information audit.
12 steps to take now
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Consent
You should review how you seek, record and manage
consent and whether you need to make any changes.
Refresh existing consents now if they don’t meet the
GDPR standard.
Children
You should start thinking now about whether you
need to put systems in place to verify individuals’
ages and to obtain parental or guardian consent for
any data processing activity.
Data breaches
You should make sure you have the right procedures
in place to detect, report and investigate a personal
data breach.
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Communicating privacy information
You should review your current privacy notices and
put a plan in place for making any necessary
changes in time for GDPR implementation.
Individuals’ rights
You should check your procedures to ensure they
cover all the rights individuals have, including how
you would delete personal data or provide data
electronically and in a commonly used format.
This checklist highlights 12 steps you can
take now to prepare for the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) which will
apply from 25 May 2018.
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Subject access requests
You should update your procedures and plan how you
will handle requests within the new timescales and
provide any additional information.
Lawful basis for processing personal data
You should identify the lawful basis for your
processing activity in the GDPR, document it and
update your privacy notice to explain it.
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Data Protection by Design and Data
Protection Impact Assessments
You should familiarise yourself now with the ICO’s
code of practice on Privacy Impact Assessments as
well as the latest guidance from the Article 29
Working Party, and work out how and when to
implement them in your organisation.
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Data Protection Officers
You should designate someone to take responsibility
for data protection compliance and assess where this
role will sit within your organisation’s structure and
governance arrangements. You should consider
whether you are required to formally designate a
Data Protection Officer.
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International
If your organisation operates in more than one EU
member state (ie you carry out cross-border
processing), you should determine your lead data
protection supervisory authority. Article 29 Working
Party guidelines will help you do this.
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