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Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Review of decisions - Decisions under Part 3 or Part 4

38: Application of Ombudsmen Act 1975

You could also call this:

"Complaining to the Ombudsmen about a local authority's decision"

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

If you think a local authority has made a wrong decision, you can ask the Ombudsmen to investigate. The Ombudsmen will look into decisions made by local authorities under Part 3 or Part 4 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, except for decisions made under section 8. You can find more information about the Ombudsmen's role in the Ombudsmen Act 1975. The Ombudsmen have the power to ask local authorities for information to help with their investigation, as stated in section 19 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

If the Ombudsman thinks something is wrong, they will tell the local authority and make recommendations, following section 22 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975. The local authority must then tell the Ombudsman what they plan to do about the recommendations. If the local authority does not do what the Ombudsman recommends, the Ombudsman can tell you, the person who made the complaint, what they think, as stated in section 24 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

The Ombudsman must give people a chance to comment before making any negative comments about them. If a local authority takes too long to give you information you asked for under Part 3 or Part 4, this can be considered a wrong decision. You can ask for information under Part 3 or Part 4 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM123052.

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Part 5Review of decisions
Decisions under Part 3 or Part 4

38Application of Ombudsmen Act 1975

  1. It shall be a function of the Ombudsmen to investigate, pursuant to the Ombudsmen Act 1975, any decision made by a local authority under Part 3 or Part 4 of this Act, except a decision made under section 8 in relation to a request made under Part 3 or Part 4.

  2. The provisions of section 29, so far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply in respect of any requirement, made by any Ombudsman in the course of any investigation conducted pursuant to subsection (1), whereby that Ombudsman, pursuant to any power conferred on that Ombudsman by section 19 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975, requires any local authority to furnish or produce to that Ombudsman any information or document or paper or thing that relates to that investigation.

  3. Where the Ombudsman, after making an investigation, forms an opinion of the kind described in subsection (1) or subsection (2) or subsection (3) of section 22 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975, that Ombudsman shall, subject to subsection (6) of this section, report that Ombudsman's opinion to the appropriate local authority, and may make such recommendations as that Ombudsman thinks fit in accordance with section 22(3) of the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

  4. Where a report is made under subsection (3) to a local authority, the Ombudsman shall request the local authority to notify the Ombudsman, within a specified time, of the steps (if any) that the local authority proposes to take to give effect to the Ombudsman's recommendations.

  5. If, within a reasonable time after the report is made under section 22(3) of the Ombudsmen Act 1975 (as applied by subsection (3) of this section), no action is taken which seems to an Ombudsman to be adequate and appropriate, the Ombudsman shall, after considering the comments (if any) made by or on behalf of any local authority affected, inform the complainant of the Ombudsman's recommendations and make such comments as the Ombudsman thinks fit in accordance with section 24 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

  6. Notwithstanding anything in this section, an Ombudsman shall not, in any report made under this section, make any comment that is adverse to any person unless the person has first been given an opportunity to be heard.

  7. If, in relation to any request for official information made under Part 3 or Part 4, any local authority fails within the time limit fixed by section 13(1) (or, where that time limit has been extended under this Act, within that time limit as so extended) to comply with paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 13(1), that failure shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (1), to be a decision made under Part 3 or Part 4.

  8. Undue delay in giving any person access to official information in response to a request under Part 3 or Part 4 for access to that information shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (1), to be a decision made under Part 3 or Part 4.

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