Consultation
5.In October 2002, a Private Member’s Bill, sponsored by Patricia Lewsley, then an SDLP MLA, had been due to have its first reading in the Assembly. However, following the suspension of the Assembly, the Bill did not proceed. As the DHSSPS proposals to establish a Safeguarding Board were largely building on Ms Lewsley’s proposals, which had already been subject to two separate consultations, it was agreed that it would only be necessary to undertake a short consultation period of 4 weeks which lasted from 15 January 2007 until 9 February 2007.
6.The 2007 consultation elicited a total of 47 responses from a range of stakeholders across the voluntary and statutory sector. In general, there were many positive comments that welcomed the proposals. A range of issues and suggestions were also highlighted and have been extremely helpful in informing consideration of the detail of the proposals.