Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has recommended the Ministry of Education apologise to the Taihape Area School community and board of trustees over its handling of a farm that was bought by the former Taihape College and local community.
The Chief Ombudsman has published a case note on a complaint about a request for information about the names of COVID-19 clusters linked to cases in the Bay of Plenty District.
A new case note illustrates the impact that the Intake and Early Assistance Team can have. This team is the first point of contact for people seeking the Ombudsman’s help.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier is urging both agencies and people requesting official information to act fairly, reasonably and with understanding during the course of the Coronavirus emergency.
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has responded to the Government’s decision to raise the COVID-19 Alert Level to 4 by closing his offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
By law, when you ask an agency for official information they have to respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days after they got it.
Changes to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) which came into effect on 21 March 2019 will affect ‘working day’ calculations for LGOIMA.
How do we strike the right balance between enabling confidential consideration of free and frank advice, and enabling the public to access official information to support open government? Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier discusses in a new Victoria University Policy Quarterly article.