Court of Protection rules on deputies’ authority to manage direct payments: Re Direct Payments [2026] EWCOP 42 (T2)

Alexander Drapkin appeared for the Public Guardian in Re Various Applications (Re Direct Payments) [2026] EWCOP 42 (T2), judgment in which was handed down by HHJ Hilder on 10 September 2026.

The court heard together seven applications by professional property and affairs deputies who had been receiving and managing direct payments for their clients under four statutory schemes: NHS personal health budgets, Care Act 2014 direct payments, SEN personal budgets and Children Act 1989 direct payments. The deputies sought confirmation that this fell within the general authority of a deputy appointed in standard terms, and asked the court to revisit its earlier decision in Lumb v NHS Humber & North Yorkshire ICB [2024] EWCOP 57 (T2). The Public Guardian was respondent to each application and the Official Solicitor acted as amicus.

The court held that managing direct payments under each of the four schemes involves welfare-type decision-making and is in any event a distinct task outside a property and affairs deputy’s general authority. A deputy needs specific, mixed authority from the court to manage direct payments as deputy. That authority can be given only where P is 16 or over and cannot be given to a trust corporation. The court set out a standard form of order and the evidence required on an application.

The judgment answers twenty-four questions in all. Among other things, it holds that a properly authorised deputy may contract with carers as principal while keeping the statutory indemnity from P’s estate; that deputies who have managed direct payments without authority since 11 October 2024 must apply for retrospective authorisation; that finalised SCCO assessments need not be reopened; and that deputies managing direct payments should be supervised as property and affairs deputies, with their reports recording the direct payment decisions made and the reasons for them.

The decision will affect a large number of existing deputyships and the way future deputyship costs are approached in personal injury and clinical negligence settlements.

The judgment is available on BAILII here.