Section 175: Reports and statements of reasons
428.This section amends section 30 of the Local Government Act 1974, which deals with the requirements for a Local Commissioner to prepare and send a report or statement of reasons in relation to a matter. In particular, it clarifies and amends what a Local Commissioner can include in a report made under section 30(1). It provides that a Local Commissioner may include recommendations in the report. Where the report relates to maladministration, those recommendations are recommendations with respect to what actions a local authority should take to remedy or prevent injustice.
429.It also clarifies and amends the circumstances in which a Local Commissioner can issue a statement of reasons rather than a full report. It provides that a Local Commissioner must issue a statement of reasons where he has decided not to investigate a matter or to discontinue an investigation of a matter; and may issue a statement of reasons where he has completed an investigation but the local authority takes or proposes to take satisfactory action to resolve it, and it would not be appropriate to prepare and send a full report.
