Miscellaneous provisions
I1I516Advisory group
1
The Commissioner must establish and maintain an advisory group.
2
The purpose of the group is to give advice and information to the Commissioner about matters relating to the Commissioner’s functions.
3
The members of the group are to be appointed by the Commissioner.
4
The Commissioner may only appoint a person as a member of the group if the appointment—
a
has been approved by the Parliamentary corporation,
b
would not result in the number of members of the group exceeding the maximum determined by the Parliamentary corporation,
c
is consistent with the principle that at least half of the group’s members are to be persons who appear to the Commissioner to be representative of patients.
5
The Commissioner may pay to members of the group such remuneration and allowances (including expenses) as the Commissioner, with the approval of the Parliamentary corporation, determines.
6
The advisory group’s procedure and terms of membership are to be determined by the Commissioner.
7
Nothing in this section precludes the Commissioner from obtaining advice from any other person.
I2I617Reports
1
Aside from the reports that the Commissioner has a duty to lay before the Scottish Parliament, the Commissioner may lay before the Parliament any other report prepared by the Commissioner if the Commissioner considers it appropriate to do so.
2
The Commissioner must ensure that, so far as reasonably practicable having regard to the subject matter, a report does not name or otherwise identify an individual who has—
a
given information to the Commissioner, and
b
not consented to being named in the report.
I3I718Protection from actions of defamation
1
For the purposes of the law of defamation—
a
any statement made to the Commissioner has absolute privilege,
b
any statement in the Commissioner’s report on an investigation has absolute privilege,
c
any other statement made by the Commissioner has qualified privilege.
2
In this section—
a
a reference to a statement being made to or by the Commissioner—
i
includes a statement being made to or by (as the case may be) a member of the Commissioner’s staff,
ii
does not include a statement made to or by (as the case may be) an individual when the individual is not acting in the individual’s capacity as the Commissioner or a member of the Commissioner’s staff,
b
“statement” has the same meaning as in the Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021.
I4I819Directions about premises and sharing of resources
1
The Commissioner must comply with any direction given to the Commissioner by the Parliamentary corporation in relation to—
a
the location of the Commissioner’s office,
b
the sharing of premises, staff, services or other resources.
2
The Parliamentary corporation is to make any direction under this section publicly available.
3
A direction under this section may vary or revoke a previous direction.