Older People's Commissioner for Wales

The Commissioner's legal powers enable her to investigate, scrutinise and challenge a range of public bodies including local authorities, health bodies and the Welsh Assembly Government.  The Commissioner has statutory responsibility for, and strategic leadership of, the Commission.

The Commissioner has stated that her role has three key priorities:

• To listen to older people
• To be an effective voice for change to improve the quality of older people’s lives
• To take action by using her powers to promote and protect the interests of older people

The Commissioner is committed to providing just and robust challenge to public bodies to improve the lives of older people and ensuring that older people are engaged in policy debates and developments.

Enquiries and Support

The Enquiries and Support team is responsible for researching and responding to all inbound enquiries from older people, families, carers and professionals.

Policy and Influencing

The team advises the Commissioner on the scope and limits of her legal powers. They develop and carry out service reviews and examinations, so that we can ensure that issues that we take on deliver the widest gains.

The team also helps the Commissioner to develop public policies. Through providing briefings, responses and well researched policies we aim to influence decision-makers at all levels and make a positive change to the lives of older people.

Communications and Engagement

The Communications team aims to provide up to date, accessible information to people and organisations who are interested in the Commission.  They proactively engage with stakeholders, in particular older people, to ensure that we are relevant and can promote the views and concerns of older people to decision-makers and the media.

Human Resources (internal policies)

Responsible for a comprehensive human resources service including rewards and benefits, performance management, HR policies and procedures, training and development and recruitment.

Finance (audit/compliance)

The Finance department ensures payments of salaries and suppliers, production of the annual accounts and financial returns.  It also leads on monthly reporting, producing estimates, annual budgets, forecasting and risk management.

Information (Data Protection and FOIA)

The Information team organises and protects the information we hold and guarantees that appropriate information is made available to the wider world through our Publication Scheme.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

The ICT team ensures that the whole Commission team is linked to each other and to the wider world.  They are responsible for the provision and maintenance of hardware and software to support the work of the Commission and also advise on the use of technology to help us work more efficiently and effectively.

Administration and Support

The Administration and Support team provides the day-to-day administrative support for the Commission.