Local Government Act 1974

23 The Commissions for Local Administration

(1) For the purpose of conducting investigations in accordance with this Part of this Act, there shall be—

(a) a body of commissioners to be known as the Commission for Local Administration in England, and

(b) a body consisting of two or more commissioners to be known as the Commission for Local Administration in Wales.

(2) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall be a member of each of the Commissions.

(3) In the following provisions of this Part of this Act the expression " Local Commissioner " means a person, other than the Parliamentary Commissioner, who is a member of one of the Commissions.

(4) Appointments to the office of Local Commissioner shall be made by Her Majesty on the recommendation of the Secretary of State after consultation with the appropriate representative body, and a person so appointed shall, subject to subsection (6) below, hold office during good behaviour.

(5) Local Commissioners may be appointed to serve either as full-time commissioners or as part-time commissioners.

(6) A Local Commissioner may be relieved of office by Her Majesty at his own request or may be removed from office by Her Majesty on grounds of incapacity or misbehaviour, and shall in any case vacate office on completing the year of service in which he attains the age of sixty-five years.

(7) The Secretary of State shall designate two of the Local Commissioners for England as chairman and vice-chairman respectively of the Commission for Local Administration in England and, in the event of there being more than one Local Commissioner for Wales, shall designate one of them as chairman of the Commission for Local Administration in Wales.

(8) The Commission for Local Administration in England shall divide England into areas and shall provide, in relation to each area, for one or more of the Local Commissioners to be responsible for the area; and where the Commission for Local Administration in Wales consist of more than one Local Commissioner they may, if they think fit, act in a similar way in Wales.

A Local Commissioner may, by virtue of this subsection, be made responsible for more than one area.

(9) It shall be the duty of the Commission for Local Administration in England to ensure that any Local Commissioner made responsible for an area which includes the county of Cornwall is made responsible for an area which also includes the Isles of Stilly.

(10) Each of the Commissions—

(a) shall make arrangements for Local Commissioners to accept cases for which they are not responsible including, where the other Commission so request, a case arising in the country of that other Commission, and

(b) shall publish information about the procedures for making complaints under this Part of this Act.

(11) For the year ending on 31st March 1975, and for each subsequent financial year, every Local Commissioner shall prepare a general report on the discharge of his functions and shall submit it to his Commission; and where he has discharged functions at the request of the other Commission he shall prepare a general report on the discharge of those functions and shall submit it to the other Commission.

Any such report shall be submitted to the appropriate Commission not later than two months after the end of the year to which it relates.

(12) The Commissions shall each financial year review the operation of the provisions of this Part of this Act about the investigation of complaints, and shall have power to convey to local authorities (through the appropriate representative body designated under section 24 below), or to government departments, any recommendations or conclusions reached in the course of their reviews.

(13) Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect as respects the Commissions.