Section 173: Matters subject to investigation
425.This section amends section 26 of and Schedule 5 to the Local Government Act 1974 to provide that a Local Commissioner can investigate an alleged or apparent failure in a service which it is an authority’s function to provide, and an authority’s alleged or apparent failure to provide such a service, in addition to his existing powers to investigate maladministration. It also removes the general restriction on a Local Commissioner’s power to investigate contractual and commercial transactions, replacing it with a number of narrower restrictions.