A seven-month delay in power-of-attorney authorisations has built up because officials were unable to process cases while working from home.
Powers of attorney (POA) allow a loved one or other agent to act for someone who struggles to manage their own affairs.
Officials are only now dealing with submissions from September and October. The usual target is to to turn around the forms within a month.
Sandra McDonald, the former public guardian for Scotland who oversaw POA applications for 14 years until 2018, said the queue was a result of disruption caused by the pandemic.
“The computer system is centralised,” she said. “It cannot be operated from home.” This meant that during lockdowns new applications could not be registered. When people returned to the
