Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 8 February (WA 81–2), what was the misconduct in the five cases referred to; how many individuals were charged with misconduct in each of those cases; what were the consequences in each case; how long those charged with misconduct had been employed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA); and in what capacity any employees guilty of misconduct were subsequently employed by the HFEA or the Department of Health.
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it has a record of two individuals approaching the previous chief executive with a public interest disclosure. These individuals were not members of HFEA staff and, therefore, were not covered by the document referred to in my Written Answer of 8 February (Official Report, col. WA 81-2). One approach followed an HFEA inspection and resulted in the individual meeting with members of the HFEA Executive. The outcome was an unannounced inspection and subsequent consideration by a HFEA licence committee. The other disclosure was anonymous, so it was not possible to pursue in the same way. The HFEA has also advised that it is unable to provide any information regarding disclosures which may have been made to all other chief executives since 1991. The HFEA has advised that of the five cases of misconduct mentioned in my Written Answer, four were unauthorised absence and one was misuse of email. One person was charged with misconduct in each of these cases. One case resulted in an oral warning, two cases resulted in the individual leaving the employment of the HFEA and in the two remaining cases, where the individuals involved appealed the findings of the misconduct inquiries, their appeal was upheld. Those concerned were employed for periods ranging from five months to three years and six months. The HFEA is of the view that it is not appropriate to provide further detail on these cases, due to the risk of identification of those involved. The HFEA has advised that providing information on the number and nature of licence conditions or other sanctions, requested by the noble Lord, would involve scrutinising every licence issued since 1991 and cross-referring to licence committee minutes, inspection reports, incident reports and press cuttings.