§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes she plans to the chairmanship for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyFollowing consultation with my colleagues in the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office and the Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland, I am pleased to announce that from 16 December the chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority will be Ruth Deech, who is principal of St. Anne's college, Oxford.
Professor Sir Colin Campbell steps down after four years as chairman of the authority.
I would like to place on record the Government's appreciation of Sir Colin's unstinting commitment to the demanding work of the authority and to the aims of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Under his leadership the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has become an internationally respected regulatory body which enjoys the confidence of the public, Parliament, the professions and the research community.