PART 1REGULATION OF SOCIAL CARE SERVICES
CHAPTER 3INFORMATION , INSPECTIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS
32Power to require information
(1)
F1Subsections (1A) and (1B) apply where the Welsh Ministers consider that a relevant person may have information relating to a regulated service which the Welsh Ministers think F2it necessary or expedient to obtain for the purposes of exercising their functions under Chapter 2 and this Chapter of this Part or under sections 38 to 40.
F3(1A)
Where this subsection applies, the Welsh Ministers may give a notice to a relevant person requiring that person—
(a)
to produce any documents which—
(i)
are specified or described in the notice, or fall within a category of document which is specified or described in the notice, and
(ii)
are in the person’s custody or under the person’s control, and
(b)
to produce the documents in a manner specified in the notice.
(1B)
Where this subsection applies, the Welsh Ministers may give a notice to a relevant person requiring that person—
(a)
to answer any question—
(i)
which is asked in the notice, and
(ii)
the answer to which is known to the person, and
(b)
to answer in a manner specified in the notice.
(2)
But the Welsh Ministers may not require a person to provide information if F4—
(a)
disclosure of that information is prohibited by any enactment or other rule of law;
(b)
the person would be entitled to refuse to disclose the information in proceedings in the High Court on grounds of legal professional privilege.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (1), “relevant person” means—
(a)
a service provider,
(b)
a responsible individual,
(c)
a person employed by or otherwise working for a service provider, and
(d)
any person who has held any of those positions.
(4)
The power to require information under subsection (1) includes—
(a)
power to require copies of any documents or records (including medical and other personal records), and
(b)
power to require the provision of information in legible form.
F5(5)
Where the Welsh Ministers require a person to provide information as they suspect an offence is being or has been committed—
(a)
they may only require the information to be provided if they have reasonable grounds for their suspicion;
(b)
they must inform the person, in writing, of the purpose for which they are requiring the information to be provided.
(6)
In this section references to a “service provider” include a person who the Welsh Ministers reasonably suspect—
(a)
is providing a regulated service at a place in respect of which that person is not registered under section 7, or
(b)
has provided a regulated service at a place in respect of which that person was not registered under section 7.