§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there was a delay in 1989 in the funding by the Department of Health of work on the in vitro fertilisation register by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, as reported at the Interim Licensing Authority's meeting for centres and ethics committees, in February 1990; if so, what was the cause of the delay; how long it was; and what information was, as a result of that delay, not available to the House during its consideration of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hooper)In February 1989 the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys applied to the Department of Health for funds to continue the in vitro fertilisation register, which had been run as a research project by the Medical Research Council. An offer of funding was made in October. There was no undue delay: the intervening time was used to explore the most cost effective method of providing the service.