Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015

21 Functions of the Adviser

(1) The National Adviser is to exercise the following functions, subject to the direction of the Welsh Ministers—

(a) to advise the Welsh Ministers about pursuing the purpose of this Act or tackling related matters (see subsection (2));

(b) to give other assistance to the Welsh Ministers in their pursuit of the purpose of this Act or tackling related matters;

(c) to undertake research relating to pursuing the purpose of this Act, tackling related matters or examining whether abuse of any kind is related directly or indirectly to inequality of any kind between people of a different gender, gender identity or sexual orientation;

(d) to advise and give other assistance, with the agreement of the Welsh Ministers, to any person on matters relating to pursuing the purpose of this Act or tackling related matters;

(e) produce reports on any matter relating to the purpose of this Act or tackling related matters.

(2) A “related matter” for the purpose of subsection (1) is abuse which the National Adviser considers to be related directly or indirectly to inequality of any kind between people of a different gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.

(3) If the National Adviser requests that a relevant authority provides information for the purpose of the exercise of any of the Adviser’s functions, the authority must comply with the request unless the authority considers that doing so would—

(a) be incompatible with the authority’s own duties, or

(b) otherwise have an adverse effect on the exercise of the authority’s functions.

(4) A relevant authority which decides not to comply with a request under subsection (3) must notify the National Adviser in writing of the reasons for the decision.