161.Section 71 specifies what action a Local Commissioner in Wales should take, depending on the findings of his investigations.
162.Subsection (1) provides that when the Local Commissioner concludes that there is no evidence of a breach of the code of conduct or when no action needs to be taken following his investigation, he may produce a report and may provide a summary of the report to any newspaper circulating in the relevant authority’s area. If a report is provided, a copy must be sent to the monitoring officer of the authority concerned. Where the Local Commissioner does not produce a report he must inform the authority’s monitoring officer of the outcome of the investigation.
163.Subsections (2) and (3) place a duty on the Local Commissioner to produce a report when he concludes that the matters which are the subject of investigation should be referred either to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority or to the president of the Adjudication Panel for adjudication by a case tribunal. Copies of the report must also be sent to the monitoring officer and standards committee of the relevant authority and to the president of the Adjudication Panel.
164.Subsection (4) provides that where a member is no longer a member of the relevant authority, copies of the report may be made available to either the member’s existing authority or former authority; the Local Commissioner may refer the matters concerned to the monitoring officer of either relevant authority.
165.Under subsections (5) and (6), a report under this section may cover more than one investigation. The Local Commissioner must inform any member of the relevant authority who is the subject of an investigation and must take reasonable steps to inform the person who made the original allegation about the outcome of the investigation.
166.Section 72 provides the Local Commissioner with the power to issue an interim report if, during an investigation, he considers that the matters revealed are sufficiently serious that it is in the public interest to suspend or partially suspend a member immediately. The Local Commissioner may recommend in an interim report a maximum period of suspension of six months or, if shorter, the remainder of the person’s term of office. Any recommendation for suspension has to be referred to the president of the Adjudication Panel for adjudication by an interim case tribunal. A copy of any interim report must be given to any person who is the subject of the report, the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned and the president of the Adjudication Panel for Wales.
167.Where a person is no longer a member of the relevant authority concerned but is a member of another relevant authority in Wales, copies of the interim report may be sent to the monitoring officer of either authority.
Introduction Commentary on sections Sections 71 and 72: Reports