Mr. Robert AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what fee the assisted conception unit at Walsgrave hospital pays to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority each time a cycle of treatment is conducted; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleAssisted conception units which carry out certain infertility treatments and embryo research have, under the terms of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, to be licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. During the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill it was accepted that applicants for licences should pay a significant part of the cost of licensing. The authority is therefore required to raise 50 per cent. of its costs through fees to licensed centres.
Licences are issued annually, with an initial fee on application of £250 for treatment licences and £100 for research or storage licences. Additional fees are charged to centres based on the numbers of treatment cycles performed in the year prior to application. The current figures are £30 per IVF—in vitro fertilisation—cycle and £7 per donor insemination cycle. Further details of the authority's licensing structure are contained in its annual report, a copy of which is available in the Library.