House of Lords written question – answered at on 25 April 2007.
Lord Laird
Crossbench
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to provide extra capacity for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
Lord Rooker
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Sustainable Farming and Food), The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, Minister of State (Sustainable Farming and Food), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The ambulance service's capacity is determined by its ability to meet the required national standard response time for category A (life-threatening) calls. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, along with the Boards' Commissioning Group for Ambulance Services, continues to work with NIAS on developing and implementing measures including new technology, dynamic deployment and additional deployment points designed to enable the ambulance service to meet the national standard response time.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.