Question
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 18 June (WA 9), bearing in mind that no Members of Parliament were involved in the appeal decision regarding the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) research licence R0153, how it was established that the HFEA appeal committee's interpretation of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 reflected the intentions of Parliament.
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an independent statutory body with the responsibility of licensing human embryo research under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The decision to licence research project R0153 was taken by the HFEA appeals committee. A summary of how this specific decision was made is available on their website at www.hfea.gov.uk. The definitions in the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill apply in the context of that Bill only and are therefore not applicable to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and the decision taken by the HFEA appeals committee when it was considering the licence application R0153. If the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill were enacted as it is, provisions in the Bill would allow for the research project R0153 to be licensed by the regulatory authority.