Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 7 February 2011 (WA 13–4), 11 August 2011 (WA 362) and 10 January 2012 (WA 22), how the provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 might be undermined by requesting that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) should account for its licensing decisions in terms of concurrently available evidence at the HFEA’s disposal; to what extent the same concerns apply to evidence given by HFEA employees to select committees of either House regarding licensing decisions; and in what way delegation of functions to the HFEA’s successor would be expected to be similarly affected by expectations regarding public accountability.
Answer
As I advised the noble Lord in my Written Answer of 7 February 2011 (Official Report, cols. WA 13-14) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) does not comment on the judgment of a licence committee or speculate on the facts relating to a licence committee decision, as to do so would undermine the purpose of the statutory provision for the delegation of this function. The HFEA is a statutory regulatory body whose independence from Government is enshrined in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (1990 Act). For that reason, it would also not be appropriate for me to make any comment in relation to licence committee's decisions or speculate what information HFEA employees might make available to a select committee if requested to do so. The HFEA publishes the minutes of its licence committees on its website so that anyone can see what issues were considered by the committee in reaching its decision. It will be for any successor body, taking on the licensing functions contained in the 1990 Act, to determine the best way of ensuring that its decisions are placed in the public domain.