Local Government Administration
The Commissions for Local
Administration
Section 23
(1) For the purpose of conducting investigations in
accordance with this Part of this Act, there shall be-
(a) a body of commissioners to be known as the
Commission for Local Administration in England, and
(b) a body consisting of two or more commissioners to
be known as the Commission for Local Administration in Wales
(2) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall be a member of
each of the Commissions.
(3) In the following provisions of this Part of this
Act the expression " Local Commissioner " means a person, other
than the Parliamentary Commissioner, who is a member of one of
the Commissions.
(4) Appointments to the office of Local Commissioner
shall be made by Her Majesty on the recommendation of the
Secretary of State after consultation with the appropriate
representative body, and a person so appointed shall, subject to
subsection (6) below, hold office during good behaviour.
(5) Local Commissioners may be appointed to serve
either as full-time commissioners or as part-time
commissioners.
(6) A Local Commissioner may be relieved of office by
Her Majesty at his own request or may be removed from office by
Her Majesty on grounds of incapacity or misbehaviour, and shall
in any case vacate office on completing the year of service in
which he attains the age of sixty-five years.
(7) The Secretary of State shall designate two of the
Local Commissioners for England as chairman and vice-chairman
respectively of the Commission for Local Administration in
England and, in the event of there being more than one Local
Commissioner for Wales, shall designate one of them as chairman
of the Commission for Local Administration in Wales.
(8) The Commission for Local Administration in England shall divide England into areas and shall provide, in relation to each area, for one or
more of the Local Commissioners to be responsible for the area: and where the
Commission for Local Administration in Wales consist of more than one Local
Commissioner they may, if they think fit, act in a similar way in Wales.
A Local Commissioner may, by virtue of this subsection, be
made responsible for more than one area.
(9) It shall be the duty of the Commission for Local
Administration in England to ensure that any Local Commissioner
made responsible for an area which includes the county of
Cornwall is made responsible for an area which also includes the
Isles of Scilly.
(10) Each of the Commissions-
(a) shall make arrangements for Local Commissioners to
accept cases for which they are not responsible including, where
the other Commission so request, a case arising in the country of
that other Commission, and
(b) shall publish information about the procedures for
making complaints under this Part of this Act.
(11) For the year ending on 31st March 1975, and for
each subsequent financial year, every Local Commissioner shall
prepare a general report on the discharge of his functions and
shall submit it to his Commission; and where he has discharged
functions at the request of the other Commission he shall prepare
a general report on the discharge of those functions and shall
submit it to the other Commission.Any such report shall be submitted to the appropriate
Commission not later than two months after the end of the year to
which it relates.
(12) The Commissions shall each financial year review
the operation of the provisions of this Part of this Act about
the investigation of complaints, and shall have power to convey
to local authorities (through the appropriate representative body
designated under section 24 below), or to government departments,
any recommendations or conclusions reached in the course of their
reviews.
(13) Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect as
respects the Commissions.
Bodies representing
authorities to which Part III applies
Section 24
(1) The Secretary of State shall by order designate
bodies to be called respectively "the representative body for
England" and "the representative body for Wales.
(2) The said representative bodies shall be bodies
appearing to the Secretary of State to represent authorities in
England to which this Part of this Act applies, or as the case
may he such authorities in Wales.
(3) An order made under subsection (1) above may be
varied or revoked by a subsequent order so made, and shall be
contained in a statutory instrument subject to annulment in
pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(4) For the year ending on 31st March 1975, and for
each subsequent financial year, each of the Commissions shall
prepare a general report on the discharge of their functions and
shall submit it to the appropriate representative body.
(5) The report shall be submitted as soon as may be
after the Commission have received the reports for the year from
Local Commissioners under section 23(11) above, and each
Commission shall submit copies of those reports, together with
their own report.
(6) Each representative body shall arrange for the publication
of the reports submitted to them under the preceding provisions
of this section.
(7) In transmitting to local authorities
recommendations or conclusions conveyed by either of the
Commissions (in accordance with section 23(12) above) the
representative body concerned may make such comments on those
recommendations or conclusions as they think appropriate.
(8) Where, in accordance with subsection (6) above, a
representative body arrange for the publication of a report
submitted to them under subsection (4) above, they may also
arrange for the report to be published with an annex containing
such comments on the report as they think appropriate.
(9) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection
(8) above, comments made by a representative body by virtue of
that subsection may relate to particular classes of authorities
to which this Part of this Act applies.
(10) Where the Commission for Local Administration in
Wales consist of only one Local Commissioner, section 23(11) above and subsection (5)
above shall have effect with the necessary modifications.
Authorities subject to
investigation
Section 25
(1) This Part of this Act applies to-
(a) any local authority,
(b) any joint board the constituent authorities of
which are all local authorities,
(c) any police authority, other than the Secretary of
State, and
(d) any water authority within the meaning of the Water
Act 1973.
(2) Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide that
this Part of this Act shall also apply, subject to any
modifications or exceptions specified in the Order, to any
authority specified in the Order, being an authority which is
established by or under an Act of Parliament, and which has power
to levy a rate, or to issue a precept.
(3) An Order made by virtue of subsection (2) above may
be varied or revoked by
a subsequent Order so made and shall be subject to annulment
in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(4) Any reference to an authority to which this Part of
this Act applies includes a reference-
(a) to the members and officers of that authority,
and
(b) to any person or body of persons acting for the
authority under section 101 or section 110 of the Local
Government Act 1972 (arrangements for discharge of functions by
local authorities), or
(c) any committee mentioned in section 101(9) of the
said Act.
Matters subject to
investigation
Section 26
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act where a
written complaint is made by or on behalf of a member of the
public who claims to have sustained injustice in consequence of
maladministration in connection with action taken by or on behalf
of an authority to which this Part of this Act applies, being
action taken in the exercise of administrative functions of that
authority, a Local Commissioner may investigate that
complaint.
(2) A complaint shall not be entertained under this
Part of this Act unless-
(a) it is made in writing to a member of the authority,
or of any other authority concerned, specifying the action
alleged to constitute maladministration, and
(b) it is referred to the Local Commissioner, with the
consent of the
person aggrieved, or of a person acting on his behalf, by that
member, or by any other person who is a member of any authority
concerned, with a request to investigate the complaint.
(3) If the Local Commissioner is satisfied that any
member of any authority concerned has been requested to refer the
complaint to a Local Commissioner, and has not done so, the Local
Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, dispense with the
requirements in subsection (2)(b) above.
(4) A complaint shall not be entertained unless it was
made to a member of any authority concerned within twelve months
from the day on which the person aggrieved first had notice of
the matters alleged in the complaint, but a Local Commissioner
may conduct an investigation pursuant to a complaint not made
within that period if he considers that there are special
circumstances which make it proper to do so.
(5) Before proceeding to investigate a complaint, a
Local Commissioner shall satisfy himself that the complaint has
been brought, by or on behalf of the person aggrieved, to the
notice of the authority to which the complaint relates and that
that authority has been afforded a reasonable opportunity to
investigate, and reply to, the complaint.
(6) A Local Commissioner shall, not conduct an
investigation under this Part of this Act in respect of any of
the following matters, that is to say, -
(a) any action in respect of which the person aggrieved
has or had a right of appeal, reference or review to or before a
tribunal constituted by or under any enactment;
(b) any action in respect of which the person aggrieved
has or had a right of appeal to a Minister of the Crown ; or
(c) any action in respect of which the person aggrieved
has or had a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of
law:
Provided that a Local Commissioner may conduct an
investigation notwithstanding the existence of such a right or
remedy if satisfied that in the particular circumstances it is
not reasonable to expect the person aggrieved to resort or have
resorted to it.
(7) A Local Commissioner shall not conduct an
investigation in respect of any action which in his opinion
affects all or most of the inhabitants of the area of the
authority concerned.
(8) Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of
this section, a Local Commissioner shall not conduct an
investigation under this Part of this Act in respect of any such
action or matter as is described in Schedule 5 to this Act.
(9) Her Majesty may by Order in Council amend the said
Schedule 5 so as to exclude from the provisions of that schedule
such actions or matters as may be described in the Order; and any
Order made by virtue of this subsection shall he subject to
annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either house of
Parliament.
(10) In determining whether to initiate, continue or
discontinue an investigation, a Local Commissioner shall, subject
to the preceding provisions of this section, act at discretion;
and any question whether a complaint is duly made under this Part
of this Act shall be determined by the Local Commissioner.
(11) In this section references to a person aggrieved
include references to his personal representatives.
(12) A complaint shall not he entertained under this
Part of this Act if and so far as it is in respect of anything
done before 1st April 1974, or in respect of any default or
alleged default first arising before that date.
Provisions relating to
complaints
Section 27
(1) A complaint under this Part of this Act may be made
by any individual, or by any body of persons whether incorporated
or not, not being-
(a) a local authority or other authority or body
constituted for purposes of the public service or of local
government, or for the purposes of carrying on under national
ownership any industry or undertaking or part of an industry or
undertaking;
(b) any other authority or body whose members are
appointed by Her Majesty or any Minister of the Crown or
government department, or whose revenues consist wholly or mainly
of moneys provided by Parliament.
(2) Where the person by whom a complaint might have
been made under the preceding provisions of this Part of this Act
has died or is for any reason unable to act for himself, the
complaint may he made by his personal representative or by a
member of his family or by some body or individual suitable to
represent him; but except as aforesaid a complaint shall not be
entertained under this Part of this Act unless made by the person
aggrieved himself,
Procedure in respect if
investigations
Section 28
(1) Where a Local Commissioner proposes to conduct an
investigation pursuant to a complaint, he shall afford to the
authority concerned, and to any person who is alleged in the
complaint to have taken or authorised the action complained of,
an opportunity to comment on any allegations contained in the
complaint.
(2) Every such investigation shall be conducted in
private, but except as aforesaid the procedure for conducting an
investigation shall be such as the Local Commissioner considers
appropriate in the circumstances of the case; and without
prejudice to the generality of the preceding provision the Local
Commissioner may obtain information from such persons and in such
manner, and make such inquiries as he thinks fit, and may
determine whether any person may be represented (by counsel or
solicitor or otherwise) in the investigation.
(3) The Local Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, pay
to the person by whom the complaint was made, and to person who
attends or furnishes information for the purposes of an
investigation under this Part of this Act-
(a) sums in respect of the expenses properly incurred
by them;
(b) allowances by way of compensation for the loss of
their time, in accordance with such scales and subject to such conditions
as may be determined by the Minister for the Civil Service.
(4) The conduct of an investigation under this Part of
this Act shall not affect any action taken by the authority
concerned, or any power or duty of that authority to take further
action with respect to any matters subject to the
investigation.
Investigations: Further
provisions
Section 29
(1) For the purposes of an investigation wider this
Part of this Act a Local Commissioner may require any member or officer of the
authority concerned, or any other person who in his opinion is
able to furnish information or produce documents relevant to the
investigation, to furnish any such information or produce any
such documents.
(2) For the purposes of any such investigation a Local
Commissioner shall have the same powers as the High Court in
respect of the attendance and examination of witnesses, and in
respect of the production of documents.
(3) A Local Commissioner may, under subsection (1)
above, require any person to
furnish information concerning communications between the
authority concerned and any Government Department or to produce
any correspondence or other documents forming part of any such
written communications.
(4) No obligation to maintain secrecy or other
restriction upon the disclosure of information obtained by or
furnished to persons in Her Majesty's service whether imposed by
any enactment or by any rule of law, shall apply to the
disclosure of information in accordance with subsection (3)
above; and where that subsection applies the Crown shall not be
entitled to any such privilege in respect of the production of
documents or the giving of evidence as is allowed by law in legal
proceedings.
(5) Nothing in subsection (1) or subsection (3) above
affects-
(a) the restriction, imposed by section 11(2) of the
Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, on the disclosure of
information by the Parliamentary Commissioner or his officers;
or
(b) the restriction, imposed by that section (as
applied by section 36 of the National Health Service
Reorganisation Act 1973), on the disclosure of information by the
Health Service Commissioner for England or the Health Service
Commissioner for Wales, or by their officers.
(6) To assist him in any investigation, a Local
Commissioner may obtain advice from any person who in his opinion
is qualified to give it and may pay to any such person such fees
or allowances as he may determine with the approval of the
Minister for the Civil Service.
(7) Subject to subsection (4) above, no person shall be
compelled for the purposes of an investigation under this Part of
the Act to give any evidence or produce any document which he
could not be compelled to give or produce in civil proceedings
before the high court.
(8) If any person without lawful excuse obstructs a
Local Commissioner in the performance of his functions under this
Part of this Act, or any officer of the Commission assisting in
the performance of those functions, or is guilty of any act or
omission in relation to an investigation under this Part of this
Act which, if that investigation were a proceeding in the High
Court, would constitute contempt of court, the Local Commissioner
may certify the offence to the High Court.
(9) Where an offence is so certified, the High Court
may inquire into the matter and, after hearing any witnesses who
may be produced against or on behalf of the person charged with
the offence, and after hearing any statement that may be offered
in defence, deal with him in any manner in which the High Court
could dea1 with him if he had committed the like offence in
relation to the High Court.
(10) Nothing in subsection (8) above shall be construed
as applying to the taking of any such action as is mentioned in
section 28(4) above.
Reports on
investigations
Section 30
(1) In any case where a Local Commissioner conducts an
investigation, or decides not to conduct an investigation, he
shall send a report of the results of the investigation, or as
the case may be a statement of his reasons for not conducting an
investigation-
(a) to the person, if any, who referred the complaint
to the Local Commissioner in accordance with section 26(2) above,
and
(b) to the complainant, and
(c) to the authority concerned, and to any other
authority or person who is alleged in the complaint to have taken
or authorised the action complained of.
(2) Where the complaint was referred by a person who
was a member of an authority but who has since ceased to be a
member of that authority, the report or statement shall be sent
to the chairman, or, as the case may be, mayor of that
authority.
(3) Apart from identifying the authority or authorities
concerned, the report shall not-
(a) mention the name of any person, or
(b) contain any particulars which, in the opinion of
the Local Commissioner, are likely to identify any person and can
be omitted without impairing the effectiveness of the report,unless, after taking into account the public interest as well
as the interests of the complainant and of persons other than the
complainant, the Local Commissioner considers it necessary to
mention the name of that person or to include in the report any
such particulars.
(4) Subject to the provisions of subsection (7) below,
the authority concerned shall for a period of three weeks make
copies of the report available for inspection by the public
without charge at all reasonable hours at one or more of their
offices; and any person shall be entitled to take copies of, or
extracts from, the report when so made available.
(5) Not later than one week after the report is
received by the authority concerned, the proper officer of the
authority shall give public notice, by advertisement in
newspapers and such other ways as appear to him appropriate, that
the report will be available for inspection as provided by
subsection (4) above, and shall specify the date, being a date
after the giving of the public notice, from which the period of
three weeks will begin.
(6) If a person having the custody of a report made
available for inspection as provided by subsection (4) above
obstructs any person seeking to inspect the report, or to make a
copy of, or extract from, the report, he shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.
(7) The Local Commissioner may, if he thinks fit after
taking into account the public interest as well as the interests
of the complainant and of persons other than the complainant,
direct that a report specified in the direction shall not be
subject to the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) above about
its publication.
Reports on investigations:
Further provisions.
Section 31
(1) If in the opinion of the Local Commissioner, as set
out in the report, injustice has been caused to the person
aggrieved in consequence of maladministration, the report shall
be laid before the authority concerned, and it shall be the duty
of that authority to consider the report, and to notify the Local
Commissioner of the action which the authority have taken, or
propose to take.
(2) if the Local Commissioner-
(a) does not receive any such notification within a
reasonable time; or
(b) is not satisfied with the action which the
authority concerned have taken; or
(c) does not within a reasonable time receive
confirmation from the authority concerned that they have taken
action, as proposed, to the satisfaction of the Local
Commissioner; he shall make a further report setting out those facts ; and
section 30 above shall apply, with any necessary modifications,
to that further report.
Law of defamation, and
disclosure of information.
Section 32
(1) For the purposes of the law of defamation, any such
publication as is hereinafter mentioned shall be absolutely
privileged, that is to say-
(a) the publication of any matter in communications
between a member of an authority and Local Commissioner, or any
officer of either Commission, for the purposes of this Part of
this Act;
(b) the publication of any matter by a Local
Commissioner or by any officer of either Commission, in
communicating with a complainant for the purposes of this Part of
this Act
(c) the publication of any matter in preparing, making
and sending a report or statement in accordance with section 30
or section 31 above, or, subject to section 30(7) above, in
making a report available to the public;
(d) the publication of any matter contained in a report
by a Local Commissioner which has been made available to the
public, being publication by inclusion in a report made or
published under section 24 above.
(2) Information obtained by a Local Commissioner, or
any officer of either Commission, in the course of or for the
purposes of an investigation under this Part of this Act shall
not be disclosed except-
(a) for the purposes of the investigation and of any
report to be made under section 30 or section 31. above; or
(b) for the purposes of any proceedings for an offence
under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1939 alleged to have been
committed in respect of information obtained, by virtue or this
Part of this Act, by a Local Commissioner or by an officer of
either Commission or for an offence of perjury alleged to have
been committed in the course of an investigation under this Part
of this Act or for the purposes of an inquiry with a view to the;
taking of such proceedings, or
(c) for the purpose of any proceedings under section
29(9) above,
and a Local Commissioner and the officers of his Commission
shall not be called upon to give evidence in any proceedings
(other than proceedings within paragraph (b) or (c) above) of
matters Coming to his or their knowledge in the course of an
investigation under this Part of this Act
(3) A Minister of the Crown or any of the authorities
mentioned in section 25(1) above may give notice in writing to a
Local Commissioner with respect to any document or information
specified in the notice, or any class of documents or information
so specified that in the opinion of the Minister, or as the case
may be of the authority, the disclosure of that document or
information or of documents or information of that class, would
be contrary to the public interest; and where such a notice is
given nothing in this Part of this Act shall be construed as
authorising or requiring any person to communicate to any other
person, or for any purpose, any document or information specified
in the notice, or any document or information of a class so
specified: Provided that a notice given under this subsection by any
authority may be discharged by the Secretary of State.
(4) Nothing in subsection (3) above shall affect the
obligations imposed by subsections (3) and (4) of section 29 above.
(5) Where information is disclosed in accordance with
section 29(3) above, being information which is derived from a
communication from a government department, and which has not
been made public, a Local Commissioner shall not without the
written consent of an officer of the government department make a
report which includes all or any of that information unless he
has given the department not less than one month's notice in
writing of his intention.
(6) The provisions of this section shall apply to the
Commissioners of Customs and Excise and Commissioners of Inland
Revenue as they apply to a Minister of the crown.
Consultation between Local
Commissioners, the Parliamentary Commissioner and the Health Service Commissioners.
Section 33
(1) If, at any stage in the course of conducting an
investigation under this Part of this Act, a Local Commissioner
forms the opinion that the complaint relates partly to a matter
which could be the subject of an investigation-
(a) by the Parliamentary Commissioner in accordance
with section 5 of the Act of 1967, or
(b) by the Health Service Commissioner for England or
the Health Service Commissioner for Wales, in accordance with
section 34 of the Act of 1973,he shall consult with the appropriate Commissioner about the
complaint and, if he considers it necessary, inform the person
initiating the complaint under this Part of this Act of the steps
necessary to initiate a complaint under the Act of 1967 or under
Part III of the Act of 1973 as the case may be.
(2) Where, by virtue of subsection (1) above, a Local
Commissioner consults the Parliamentary Commissioner or one of the Health Service
Commissioners in relation to a complaint under this Part of this
Act, he may consult that Commissioner about any matter relating
to the complaint, including-
(a) the conduct of any investigation into the
complaint, and
(b) the form, content and publication results of any
report of the of results of such an investigation.
(3) If, at any stage in the course of conducting an
investigation under-
(a) the Act of 1967, or
(b) Part III of the Act of 1973,
the Commissioner conducting the investigation forms the
opinion that the complaint relates partly to a matter which could
be the subject of an investigation under this Part of this Act,
he shall consult with the appropriate Local commissioner about
the complaint and, if he considers it necessary, inform the
person initiating the complaint under the Act of 1967 or Part III
of the Act of 1973, as the case may be, of the steps necessary to
initiate a complaint under this Part of this Act
(4) Where, by virtue of subsection (3) above, a Local
Commissioner is consulted about a complaint under the Act of 1967
or Part III of the Act of 1973, subsection (2) above shall apply
(with the necessary modifications) as it applies in relation to
consultations held by virtue of subsection (1) above,
(5) Nothing in section 11(2) of the Act of 1967, in
that section as applied by section 36 of the Act of 1973, or in
section 32(2) of the Act (restrictions of disclosure of
information) shall apply in relation to the disclosure of
information by any of the Commissioners mentioned in this
section, or by any of their officers, in the course of
consultations held in accordance with this section,
(6) In this section the "Act of 1967" means the
Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 and the "Act of 1973" means
the National Health Service Reorganisation Act of 1973".
Interpretation of part
III
Section 34
(1) In this Part of this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires-
"action" includes failure to act, and other expressions
connoting action shall be construed accordingly,
"the Commissions" means the Commission for Local
Administration in England and the Commission for Local
Administration in Wa1es
"local authority" means a county council, the Greater
London Council, a district council, a London borough council, the
Common Council of the City of or the Council of the isles of
Scilly,
"member" in relation to a joint board, includes a
member of any of the constituent authorities of the joint board
"person aggrieved" means the person who claims alleged to have
sustained any such injustice mentioned in section 26(1)
above,
"Parliamentary Commissioner" means the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Administration;
"representative body" means a body designated under
section 24 above,
"tribunal" includes the person constituting consisting
of one person.
(2) Section 269 of the Local Government Act 1972 (which
relates to the meaning of "England" and "Wales" in Acts passed after 1st April 1974)
shall apply to this Part of this Act as if it had been passed after that
date
(3) It is hereby declared that nothing in this Part of
this Act authorises or requires a Local Commissioner to question
the merits of a decision taken without maladministration by an
authority in the exercise of a discretion vested in that
authority.
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