Commentary on Sections Part 6 - the Children’s Commissioner Section 111: Advisory board
448.New section 7A (inserted into the 2004 Act by section 111) imposes a new requirement on the Children’s Commissioner to appoint an advisory board, the purpose of which is to provide advice and assistance to the Commissioner. It is for the Children’s Commissioner to decide who to appoint to the board, but subsection (2) requires the board’s membership, when taken together, to represent a broad range of interests that are relevant to the functions of the Children’s Commissioner. The role of the board is advisory only and ultimately it will be the responsibility of the Children’s Commissioner (rather than the advisory board) to determine how to exercise his or her functions. The aim of the advisory board is to make the Commissioner’s business planning processes more transparent and to ensure that his or her activities add value, rather than duplicate, the work of other organisations with an interest in children’s rights. It is for the Children’s Commissioner to determine whether to appoint a separate chairperson from among the members of the advisory board, or to chair the advisory board him or herself. Subsection (3) requires the Commissioner to publish details of the process through which appointments to the advisory board will be made and the criteria used to select members. The intention is to ensure that the process by which individuals are selected is open and transparent.