Schedule 1, Part 4 – Status &c.
326.Paragraph 42 establishes the status of the CEHR in relation to the Crown. It confirms that Commissioners and employees of the CEHR are not employed as civil servants.
327.Paragraph 42(3) requires the Secretary of State to have regard to the desirability of ensuring that the Commission is under as few constraints as reasonably possible in determining its activities, timetables and priorities.
328.This Part of Schedule 1 also amends a number of Acts of Parliament to ensure the CEHR is subject to them. These provisions ensure that the CEHR is subject to the requirements of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, relating to departments subject to investigation; the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and similar provisions barring members of the House of Commons, Northern Ireland Assembly, and National Assembly for Wales from being members of the CEHR, including as an Investigating Commissioner or member of a decision-making committee. It also subjects the CEHR to the provisions of the Public Records Act 1958 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.