OPG professional guardians training now offered online

An online training course for eligible solicitors who are part of the professional guardians’ scheme has been launched by the Office of the Public Guardian.

The course is a remotely accessible version of the mandatory training for eligible firms delivered by OPG since 2017 as part of its move towards a tailored approach to supervising financial guardians. The professional guardians’ scheme is open to professional firms who have five or more guardianship cases. 

Previously, the half day training was delivered face-to-face to groups of solicitors and staff throughout Scotland. However, this method of training encountered a number of challenges. It relied on OPG staff taking time out from operational duties to travel to various locations, and solicitors take time out of practice to travel to and attend training. These factors led to OPG to review the delivery method of the training.

The online course has been developed by OPG in partnership with the Change & Digital Innovation (CDi) team at Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service and the Judicial Institute, and is now available on the Judicial Hub.

Public Guardian Fiona Brown commented: "This is an exciting and collaborative project between OPG and the Judicial Hub. The online training course is much more accessible and can be accessed by the professional user whenever they wish to complete the training."

To join the scheme, firms should apply using the form available on the OPG website. Once they have been approved, a link to the online training will be emailed by OPG to individuals wishing to complete the training.