Amending the regulations to extend the term of office for the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales from 4 to 7 years

Wales has four Commissioners who are appointed by the First Minister for Wales. They are supported through similar funding and governance arrangements. The Welsh Language Commissioner, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and the Future Generations Commissioner are all appointed on a fixed, non-extendable, 7-year term of office. 

However, The Older People’s Commissioner for Wales (OPCW) is appointed on a 4-year term of office. There is the possibility of a 2-year extension, but this needs to be agreed with the First Minister and those that represent the views of older people in Wales. Alternatively, the Commissioner may reapply under a competitive process.

For more information on the role of the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales please visit the Commissioner’s website.

The OPCW is appointed in accordance with the following regulations:

• The Commissioner for Older People in Wales (Appointment) Regulations 2007 as amended by:
• The Commissioner for Older People in Wales (Appointment) (Amendment) Regulations 2016

We propose that the term of office given to all Welsh Commissioners should be consistent at 7 years. This would allow all four Commissioners the same term of office and therefore the same opportunity to work with the groups of people that they represent and to champion change on their behalf. 

To do this, we propose an amendment to the regulations to allow the First Minister to appoint the OPCW for a term of office of 7 years rather than the current term of 4 years. The opportunity to ask the First Minister for an extension of 2 years, or to reapply through a competitive process will also be withdrawn. 

The next OPCW is to be appointed by August 2024. We would like to make these changes to the regulations so that the next OPCW can be appointed on a 7-year term of office.

Please could you send your views on this consultation to the Older People and Carer’s Team in Welsh Government at olderpeopleandcarers@gov.wales by 12 September 2023.

If you feel unable to provide a response by this date, please contact us as soon as possible.

There a several ways to respond:

• complete our online form
• download, complete our consultation response form and email it to: olderpeopleandcarers@gov.wales (please include the reference WG47762 in the subject of your email)
• download, complete our consultation response form and post to the address stated

Large print, Braille and alternative language versions of this document are available on request.

Contact details

Older People and Carers Team
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: olderpeopleandcarers@gov.wales

This document is also available in Welsh.

The Welsh Government will be data controller for any personal data you provide as part of your response to the consultation. Welsh Ministers have statutory powers they will rely on to process this personal data which will enable them to make informed decisions about how they exercise their public functions. Any response you send us will be seen in full by Welsh Government staff dealing with the issues which this consultation is about or planning future consultations. Where the Welsh Government undertakes further analysis of consultation responses then this work may be commissioned to be carried out by an accredited third party (such as a research organisation or a consultancy company). Any such work will only be undertaken under contract. Welsh Government’s standard terms and conditions for such contracts set out strict requirements for the processing and safekeeping of personal data.

In order to show that the consultation was carried out properly, the Welsh Government intends to publish a summary of the responses to this document. We may also publish responses in full. Normally, the name and address (or part of the address) of the person or organisation who sent the response are published with the response. If you do not want your name or address published, please tell us this in writing when you send your response. We will then redact them before publishing.

You should also be aware of our responsibilities under freedom of information legislation.

If your details are published as part of the consultation response then these published reports will be retained indefinitely. Any of your data held otherwise by Welsh Government will be kept for no more than three years.

Under the data protection legislation, you have the right:

• to be informed of the personal data held about you and to access it
• to require us to rectify inaccuracies in that data
• to (in certain circumstances) object to or restrict processing
• for (in certain circumstances) your data to be ‘erased’
• to (in certain circumstances) data portability
• to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection 

For further details about the information the Welsh Government holds and its use, or if you want to exercise your rights under the UK GDPR, please see contact details below:

Data Protection Officer:
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
CARDIFF
CF10 3NQ

e-mail: dataprotectionofficer@gov.wales

The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are: 
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113

The Information Commissioner's Office's website.