Schedule 2: Transfer of assets, liabilities, staff and other transitional and savings arrangements
This Schedule is introduced by section 4. The main function of this schedule is to transfer the property of the existing offices of the Ombudsman and the Commissioner to the NIPSO. There are also transitional arrangements to govern the handover from the existing offices to the new office. If a person made a complaint to the existing offices but that complaint was not resolved before the establishment of the new office, then the old rules continue to apply, but the NIPSO steps in as the investigator. Provision is also made to ensure a person aggrieved in not disadvantaged, for a transitional period, by the change in the time limit for making a complaint from 12 months to 6 months. Paragraph 12 ensures that the definition of “public appointment” in the Commissioner for Public Appointments (NI) Order 1995 is not affected by the repeal of the Commissioner for Complaints (NI) Order 1996.