§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the recent meeting of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy researchers in Keele was held in private; who was invited to it; what confidentiality agreements they were required to sign; and whether the minutes of that meeting will now be published. [HL2032]
§ Baroness HaymanA Joint Funders Workshop on TSE Research in the UK was held in Keele (4–6 April 2000). This comprised a meeting of funded scientists working in the field of TSEs, department/research council officials and five members of SEAC (Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee). Meetings of this type have been held annually by the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) for a number of years. The first joint meeting with the participation of other funders was held in 1998. The purpose of these meetings is to inform the funding bodies of the progress being made in the work they are supporting, to share results and encourage collaboration and networking between the scientists. The researchers present were funded by one or more of the following funding bodies: BBSRC, Department of Health, Medical Research Council and MAFF. Two international guest speakers were also invited. This was a closed meeting as interim results were presented, and most of the research work discussed was pre-publication. For this reason, a confidentiality agreement was signed by conference delegates. Written reports covering all sessions of the workshop will be circulated to the funders. However, the proceedings will not be published.