Section 4: Review and monitoring of arrangements
17.Section 4 extends the Commissioner’s functions in section 73 of the 2000 Act of reviewing and monitoring arrangements made by providers of services regulated under the 2000 Act for dealing with complaints and representations in respect of those services, and for whistleblowing and for advocacy. The Commissioner’s functions are extended to providers of other services in Wales, listed in the new Schedule 2B to the 2000 Act, to or in respect of children.
18.Section 4(3) inserts into section 73 a new subsection (1A) which provides that the Commissioner may also review the effect on children of the absence of such arrangements. Section 4(5) inserts into section 73 new subsections (2A) and (2B) which extend to providers of other services the Commissioner’s functions of reviewing and monitoring of arrangements. Those functions are extended to the providers listed in new Schedule 2B: the Assembly, county and county borough councils, health authorities, National Health Service trusts, schools in the public sector, further and higher education institutions; and also any person providing services on behalf of, or under arrangements with, any of the persons listed. Section 4(5) also inserts into section 73 a new subsection (2C), which provides that the Assembly’s arrangements for dealing with complaints or representations in respect of services provided by any of the other persons listed in Schedule 2B, also come within the Commissioner’s review and monitoring of arrangements function.
19.Section 4(6) makes consequential amendments to section 73(3), and section 4(7) inserts a new subsection (3A) into section 73, to establish that the arrangements made by the persons listed in Schedule 2B (and those providing services on their behalf) for dealing with whistleblowing come within the Commissioner’s review and monitoring function under section 73. Section 4(8) amends section 73(4) of the 2000 Act to provide that the arrangements made by the persons listed in Schedule 2B (and those providing services on their behalf) for dealing with children’s advocacy come within the Commissioner’s review and monitoring function under section 73.
20.Section 4(9) inserts sections 73(5A) to (5C), which vests the Assembly with an order-making power to alter the list of persons subject to the Commissioner’s power to review its arrangements for dealing with complaints and other matters. The power is given in the same terms as the order-making power in the new section 72B(3) to (5) (outlined in paragraph 16) in respect of the list of persons subject to the Commissioner’s review and monitoring function, but with the additional criterion that the person must provide services in Wales to or in respect of children. Section 4(9) also inserts a new section 73(5D) which prevents persons being added if their sole or main activity is the investigation of complaints by the public, or the supervision or review of follow-up action resulting from such investigation. In addition, section 4(9) inserts a new subsection 73(5E) which prevents an order being made under subsection (5A) if the effect would be to allow the Commissioner to review functions in a field in which the Assembly has no functions.