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Scotland has granted free legal aid and advice for people applying for the welfare guardianship of an adult lacking mental capacity.

The move comes as a study is published suggesting that Scotland's three-year-old mental incapacity legislation is working well, although there are concerns about lack of advice and support for relatives seeking to use its powers.

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act allows someone who is losing mental capacity the power to appoint proxy decision-makers, or for carers to apply to the court to intervene where someone is incapable of acting in their own best interests.

The act's new power of attorney has been granted - mainly to relatives - in nearly 30,000 cases, about two-thirds of which related to financial affairs, says the study.

But new powers enabling carers to open a dedicated bank account for someone lacking capacity were used fewer than 200 times each year. One-off intervention orders were granted 167 times in the third year.

The study acknowledges the dilemma for officials who must scrutinise use of the act's powers by laypeople and help them understand its procedures.

Relatives found some procedures too bureaucratic and their experience of the sheriff's court could be "over-formal and even distressing".


The study also found that local authorities were unclear about when to invoke the act, and often applied for welfare guardianship powers that were more excessive than the reports suggested were needed.

Alzheimer Scotland welcomed the announcement on legal aid, which it had campaigned for.

The charity's convenor, Dr Alan Jacques, said: "The act is one of the most advanced pieces of legislation on incapacity in the world. It is looked on with admiration and a little envy in many other countries."

• Go to www.scotland.gov.uk/