Commentary on Sections Part 4: The Citizen Voice Body for Health and Social Care Section 15 – Representations to public bodies
44.This section enables the Citizen Voice Body to make representations to an NHS Body or local authority about anything it considers relevant to provision of a health service or social services. This enables it to make known any views it has sought from the public and represent those views to the bodies responsible for providing and arranging health and social services, whether in response to a consultation by one of the bodies or at its own instigation after it has sought the views of the public.
45.An NHS body or local authority must have regard to the representation when exercising any function to which that representation relates.
46.Subsection (4) requires the Welsh Ministers to issue guidance to NHS bodies and local authorities in relation to representations the Citizen Voice Body makes to them under this section. NHS bodies and local authorities are required by subsection (5) to have regard to that guidance. The guidance may, for example, deal with how an NHS body or local authority ought to respond when a representation is made to it.