Consultations

NICE: NICE has launched a consultation on its draft quality standard for the management of patients with early, locally advanced & advanced breast cancer.  Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in England and around 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives.  
 
The draft standard has 13 statements to help improve care for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer.  It is available on the NICE website for consultation (until 5.00pm on 4 May 2011), which allows stakeholders to comment & help identify which statements are most important to support service improvement.
Press release & links
 
DfE: The Government has launched a review of cultural education, which will look at how children can experience a wide variety of high quality cultural experiences, both inside & outside of school. There is an open invitation to anyone who wants to contribute to the consultation & feed into his review (closes on 20 May 2011).
 
Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, said: “Every child should be exposed to rich cultural opportunities. Too often, this is a privilege reserved for the wealthy few. This must change. ……. This important review will play a key role in ensuring that children from all backgrounds can reap the benefits of our culture and heritage”.
Press release & links
 
ScotGov: A consultation paper on reforming parts of the criminal justice system in Scotland has been launched by Lord Carloway (closes on 3 June 2011). He was commissioned to conduct a review by Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, after the UK Supreme Court's judgement in Cadder v HMA in October 2010.
 
This review covers the law & practice relating to ‘the detention & questioning of suspects, their access to legal advice and how to ensure that the police, legal professions and courts can operate effectively and in a way that safeguards the rights of all involved’.
 
The consultation poses questions about core elements of the system as it currently stands.  It seeks views on, among other things, whether the current system of detention & arrest could be replaced, the arrangements for suspects to be given legal advice, the powers & rules for police questioning and whether the requirement for corroboration should continue. It will help Lord Carloway prepare a report with recommendations for publication in Autumn 2011.
Press release & links
 
HO: Less than 1 month left (closes on 11 May 2011) for contributions on proposals to help more disabled people to access elected office. Your views are needed on new plans which include funding, mentoring & training to help disabled people overcome the barriers they face. The government wants to hear from people across the community, including disabled people and those involved in the political process at all levels.
Press release & links
 
EU News: Public consultations on the creation of the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps are drawing to a close (3 May 2011).  The outcome of the consultations will serve as a building block in the Corps's construction, for which a legislative proposal will be presented in 2012.  The EU is committed to setting-up the EVHA Corps in order to empower Europeans to contribute practically to the EU's humanitarian work.
Press release & links
 
DfE: Parents, teachers, pupils & other interested members of the public have just a couple of days left (closes on Thursday 14 April 2011) to tell the Government & curriculum experts what should be taught in our schools. By answering the questions in the Call for Evidence, people will have the chance to shape the new National Curriculum for primary & secondary schools in England.
Press release & links
 
Newswire – CABCitizens Advice has responded to Law Commission consultation (closes on 12 July 2011) which includes recommendations for new laws regarding ‘civil recovery’.  Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice said: “We warmly welcome proposals, published today by the Law Commission, which seek to create a new law under which individuals can bring their own legal action against companies where they have been the victim of unfair commercial practice”.
Press release & links ~ LC consultation: Consumer Redress for Misleading and Aggressive Practices
 
NA: The National Archives has launched a new search facility to provide easier access to their records. The Discovery service has been released in 'beta', or test, form, and they are keen to get your feedback on how it can be improved. The new service enables you to filter search results by subject, date and series origin, as well as introducing map-based searching.
Press release & links
 
NICENICE is currently developing a clinical guideline on the longer-term care of adults, children & young people who self-harm.  As part of this process, draft recommendations have been published on the NICE website for public consultation (closes on 7 June 2011).
Press release & links
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