News story

Appointment of Court of Protection General Visitors

Twenty-two new general visitors supporting work delivered by the Office of the Public Guardian.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has announced the appointment of 22 new Court of Protection General Visitors and the re-appointment of a further six.

General visitors are public appointees who support OPG in supervising court appointed deputies. They also play a key role in OPG investigations by conducting mental capacity assessments.

The appointments have had ministerial approval and the following list of new appointees started their tenure in April 2022, for a period of 10 years:

  • Annie Smith
  • Barry Purdell
  • Clarah Abange
  • Debbie Parker
  • Elaine Bowden
  • Elizabeth Rees
  • Hilary Travis
  • Janyce Quigley
  • Katie Barker
  • Katie Smith-Palomeque
  • Kimberley Barrett
  • Leah Austin
  • Louise Ahrens
  • Nicholas Rosenfeld
  • Olumide Odubawo
  • Saka Awokoya
  • Sarah Flaxman
  • Sarah Woodford
  • Sughra Nazir
  • Sullay Adekulay
  • Suzanne Ryan
  • William Walton

The following existing visitors were re-appointed in April 2022 for a further tenure of 10 years:

  • Barry Whitmore
  • Beverley Blythe
  • Graeme Currie
  • Mark Farnsworth
  • Stephen Gray
  • Sue Joyce

These are statutory appointments under section 61 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and have been made in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Published 12 December 2022
Last updated 28 December 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added translation

  2. First published.