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Consultations
Ofwat: The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) has launched a consultation (closes 28 September) on how to deliver improved competition to benefit water customers in England & Wales. In Consultation on market competition in the water and sewerage industries, Ofwat sets out a range of options for discussion.
These include ways that existing competition under the water supply licensing (WSL) regime could be improved and separating the different parts of the water supply & waste water collection services, to open them up to competition.
Defra: Defra has launched a consultation (closes 10 October 2007) on the implementation of a National Control Programme for salmonella in poultry laying flocks. Salmonella is a common cause of food poisoning and can cause serious illness in humans. The aim of the programme is to reduce the levels of the two most important types of salmonella for human health, Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) and Salmonella Typhimurium (ST).
Current UK levels are among the lowest in Europe, with Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium present on 8% of holdings with laying flocks and the UK has been set a target to reduce these two types of Salmonella by 10% each year for the next three years. The programme sets out how this will be achieved and includes mandatory sampling & testing requirements to demonstrate progress towards this target.
Press release ~ Consultation on the National Control Programme for Salmonella in Laying Flocks (Gallus gallus) ~ EU legislation (Regulation (EC) 2160/2003) ~ EU Regulation (EC) 1168/2006 ~ Defra: Salmonella in poultry and pigs ~ European Food Safety Authority survey report ~ Health protection Agency
DCSF: The Government is consulting (closes on 31 October 2007) on how to support parents in striking the right balance between protecting their children and allowing them to learn & explore safely, by publishing Staying Safe to promote discussion on how best to keep children safe.
The strategy also looks at how to best protect vulnerable children & young people and how to respond when children and young people have been harmed. A cross-Government action plan will be published in response to the consultation.
Press release ~ Consultation: Staying Safe ~ Teachernet, Education outside the Classroom Manifesto ~ Better Safe Than Sorry: Preventing Unintentional Injury to Children ~ Child Accident Prevention Trust: Child Safety Week ~ HSE: Risk Management for Education
MoJ: Bereaved families will have the right to inspect the medical forms of a deceased family member before cremation, under new proposals published for consultation recently (closes 22 October 2007). The proposals are designed to help stop a repeat of the murders by Harold Shipman.
Allowing the bereaved to see the forms is an important reform as Dame Janet Smith's Third Shipman Inquiry Report made it clear that many of the forms completed by Shipman were wholly inaccurate. Had family members been able to draw the medical referee's attention to concerns about unexpected symptoms or features of the case Shipman's activities might well have been curtailed
The consultation also proposes a new regulation dealing with the handling of contagious disease cases. In the event of a pandemic, the regulations would be amended to allow for a simpler procedure for the cremation of bodies.
Press release ~ Cremation Regulations - Consolidation and Modernisation ~ Cremation ~ Coroners ~ Reforming the Coroner and Death Certification Service - A Position Paper ~ Independent fundamental review of coroner and death certificate systems (2003) ~ Third report of the Shipman Inquiry - Death Certification and the Investigation of Deaths by Coroners ~ The Coroners officer ~ DCA - Draft Coroners Bill ~ BMA’s position ~ Liberty Briefing on Draft Coroners Bill
DWP: - A new "jobs pledge" aiming to find job opportunities for a quarter of million people currently on benefit is at the heart of a Green Paper published for consultation (closes on 31 October 2007) – See ‘In the News’ above
