Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005

23 Special reports: supplementary

(1) The Ombudsman may—

(a) publish a special report;

(b) supply a copy of the published report or any part of it to any person who requests it.

(2) The Ombudsman may charge a reasonable fee for supplying a copy of a report (or part of a report) under subsection (1)(b).

(3) The listed authority in respect of which a special report is made must reimburse the Ombudsman for the cost of publishing a special report if requested to do so by the Ombudsman.

(4) If a special report—

(a) mentions the name of any person other than the listed authority in respect of which the complaint was made, or

(b) includes any particulars which, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, are likely to identify any such person and which, in his opinion, can be omitted without impairing the effectiveness of the report,

that information must not be included in a version of the report sent to a person under section 22(9) or (10) or published under subsection (1) of this section, subject to subsection (5).

(5) Subsection (4) does not apply in relation to a version of the special report if, after taking account of the interests of the person aggrieved and any other persons he thinks appropriate, the Ombudsman considers it to be in the public interest to include that information in that version of the special report.

(6) If the Ombudsman would otherwise send a copy of a special report (or part of a special report) to the Assembly under section 22(9) or (10) or subsection (1) of this section, he must send the copy to the Assembly First Secretary instead.

(7) Sections 17 and 18 (publicising reports under section 16) apply in relation to a special report as they apply in relation to a report under section 16.