Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019

23 Reports of investigations

(1) The Ombudsman must, after conducting an investigation—

(a) prepare a report on the Ombudsman’s findings, and

(b) send a copy of the report to the persons listed in subsection (2),

but this is subject to section 27.

(2) The persons referred to in subsection (1)(b) are—

(a) if the investigation relates to a complaint, the person who made the complaint;

(b) the listed authority to which the report relates;

(c) any other person who is alleged in the complaint (if any) to have taken or authorised the action complained of or is identified in the report by the Ombudsman in a negative way;

(d) if the listed authority is a family health service provider in Wales—

(i) any Local Health Board with whom the authority had, at the time of the action which is the subject of the investigation, entered into a contract to provide the family health services which are under investigation;

(ii) any person to whom the authority had, at that time, undertaken to provide those services;

(iii) any person with whom the authority had, at that time, made arrangements for the provision of those services;

(e) if the listed authority is an independent provider in Wales—

(i) any Welsh health service body with whom the authority had, at the time of the action which is the subject of the investigation, made arrangements for the provision of the services under investigation;

(ii) any family health service provider in Wales with whom the authority had, at that time, made arrangements for the provision of those services;

(f) the First Minister for Wales (unless the listed authority is itself the Welsh Government or is a local authority in Wales).

(3) The Ombudsman may send a copy of the report to any other persons the Ombudsman thinks appropriate.

(4) The Ombudsman may publish a report prepared under this section if, after taking account of the interests of the person aggrieved (if any) and any other persons the Ombudsman thinks appropriate, the Ombudsman considers it to be in the public interest to do so.

(5) The Ombudsman may supply a copy of a report published under subsection (4), or any part of such a report, to any person who requests it.

(6) The Ombudsman may charge a reasonable fee for supplying a copy of a report, or part of a report, under subsection (5).

(7) If a report prepared under this section—

(a) mentions the name of any person other than the listed authority in respect of which the report was made, or

(b) includes any particulars which, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, are likely to identify any such person and which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, can be omitted without impairing the effectiveness of the report,

that information must not be included in a version of the report sent to a person under subsection (1)(b) or (3) or published under subsection (4), subject to subsection (8).

(8) Subsection (7) does not apply in relation to a version of the report if, after taking account of the interests of the person aggrieved (if any) and any other persons the Ombudsman thinks appropriate, the Ombudsman considers it to be in the public interest to include that information in that version of the report.