C5

Section inserted by Citizens Information Act 2007 (2/2007), s. 5, not commenced as of date of revision.

F10[7B.— (1) A person who is of opinion that he or she is a qualifying person (in this section referred to as an ‘applicant’) may apply in writing, or in such other form as may be specified by the Minister, to the Director for the assignment of a personal advocate to him or her and he or she shall specify in the application the social service or services that he or she is seeking to obtain.

(2) An application under subsection (1) may be made by any person on behalf of an applicant.

(3) The Director shall determine whether or not an applicant is a qualifying person and, if he or she is satisfied that the applicant is such a person, he or she shall assign a personal advocate to the applicant in accordance with this Act.

(4) A decision to grant or to refuse to grant an application under subsection (1) shall be made and the applicant concerned and, if appropriate, the person who made the application on his or her behalf shall be notified of it by the Director in writing, or such other form as may be specified by the Minister, as soon as practicable after the receipt by the Director of the application.

(5) If the grant of an application under subsection (1) is refused, the notification under subsection (4) shall specify the reasons for the refusal and state that the applicant concerned may appeal against the decision of the Director under section 7C.

(6) If the grant of an application under subsection (1) is refused, the Director may, at any time, reverse the decision where it appears to him or her that the decision was erroneous in the light of new evidence or of new facts which have been brought to his or her notice since the decision was made or by reason of some mistake having been made in relation to the law or the facts, or where it appears to him or her that there has been any relevant change of circumstances of the applicant concerned since the decision was made, and the provisions of section 7C shall apply to the revised decision in the same manner as they apply to the original decision relating to the application.

(7) Subsection (6) shall not apply to a decision relating to an application which is on appeal or reference under section 7C unless the revised decision would be in favour of the applicant concerned.

(8) A document purporting to be a certificate of a decision made under this section by the Director or, as the case may be, a person authorised under section 7A(11) to perform the functions of the Director under this section and to be signed by the Director or that person, as the case may be, shall be prima facie evidence of the making of the decision and of the terms of that decision, without proof of the signature of the Director or that person, as may be appropriate, or of his or her official capacity. ]