Nurses and Midwives Act 2011
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Persons to assist Preliminary Proceedings Committee. |
56.— (1) The Board— | |
(a) may appoint persons (including any employees of the Board other than the chief executive officer) to assist the Preliminary Proceedings Committee, and | ||
(b) shall determine the conditions of appointment of persons so appointed. | ||
(2) Subject to subsection (4), the chairperson of the Preliminary Proceedings Committee shall specify the functions to be performed by the persons appointed under subsection (1). | ||
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the functions specified under that subsection may include one or more than one of the following: | ||
(a) interviewing persons for the purposes of assessing the relevance or evidential value of information or documents they wish to give to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee; | ||
(b) interviewing persons as to the evidence they propose to give to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee; | ||
(c) recording, in writing or otherwise, the statements given and answers made by persons whilst being so interviewed; | ||
(d) reporting to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee on the results of those interviews; | ||
(e) requesting persons to provide the Preliminary Proceedings Committee with statements in writing concerning any matter relevant to the Committee’s functions and examining statements given in response to the requests; and | ||
(f) providing the Preliminary Proceedings Committee with any other advice or assistance required in relation to the preparation of its reports. | ||
(4) A person appointed under subsection (1)— | ||
(a) shall not administer oaths or take affirmations, but, | ||
(b) may, if authorised by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee to do so, request a person interviewed as described in subsection (3) to sign a record of a statement made or answer given by the person during the interview. | ||
(5) A person appointed under subsection (1) who makes a request referred to in subsection (4)(b) shall inform the person to whom the request is made of the power under section 64 of the Fitness to Practise Committee to give a direction in relation to the statement or answer the subject of the request. | ||
(6) The Board shall provide each person appointed under subsection (1) with a warrant— | ||
(a) identifying the person, and | ||
(b) specifying the functions that the person has the authority to perform by virtue of subsection (2) and, if applicable, subsections (4)(b) and (5). | ||
(7) Where a person appointed under subsection (1) performs a function specified in that person’s warrant provided under subsection (6), the person shall produce the warrant for inspection at the request of a person in respect of whom the function is performed. |