Public Services Ombudsman Act (Northern Ireland) 2016

Consultation and co-operation with other ombudsmen

51.—(1) This section applies if, at any stage in the course of considering a complaint or conducting an investigation, the Ombudsman forms the opinion that the matter could be the subject of an investigation by a person mentioned in subsection (4).

(2) The Ombudsman must consult that person about the matter.

(3) The Ombudsman may co-operate with that person, including co-operation—

(a) by way of disclosure of information relating to the complaint or investigation,

(b) in the conduct of the investigation,

(c) in the form, content and publication of a report.

(4) The persons referred to in subsection (1) are—

(a) the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967,

(b) the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman under the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002,

(c) the Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland under the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Northern Ireland) Order 2003,

(d) the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales under the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005,

(e) the Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland under the Commissioner for Older People Act (Northern Ireland) 2011,

(f) the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,

(g) the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission under the Northern Ireland Act 1998,

(h) the Ombudsman in the Republic of Ireland, in respect of complaints about or investigations into an implementation body to which the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 applies,

(i) a local government auditor within the meaning of Article 4 of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005,

(j) the Comptroller and Auditor General, and

(k) the Health and Social Care Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority under the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009.