Can the Commissioner hold public inquiries?
The Commissioner can carry out an examination into the case of an older person, or into a linked group of cases concerning older people. In the course of such an examination she will be able to call witnesses and require access to papers and other information. Following such an examination the Commissioner is able to issue a report with recommendations. The Commissioner can use the experience she has gained from examining individual cases, together with information obtained from wider research, in reviewing the way that the Assembly has done its job in making law or issuing guidance, for reviewing how a local authority and / or health body had carried out its responsibilities, and for looking into how care homes, for example, or other service providers had made arrangements for advocacy, for complaints procedures and for whistle-blowing. She can then make a report about her findings and recommendations, and can issue best practice guidance on the subject they had looked into.
