HL Deb 07 November 1996 vol 575 cc75-8WA
Baroness Seccombe

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will announce changes in membership of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and whether they will announce what was the outcome of the quinquennial review of the Authority.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)

We are pleased to announce that the following have been appointed members of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for three years from today:

  • Dr. Gulum Bahadur, Clinical Biochemist at the University College and Middlesex School of Medicine;
  • Dr. Ruth Chambers, General Practitioner and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Primary Health Care, University of Keele; and Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners;
  • Professor Christine Gosden, Professor of Medical Genetics, University of Liverpool, at Liverpool Women's Hospital;
  • Professor Stuart Lewis, Professor of Psychology Applied to Medicine in the School of Clinical Medicine at Queen's University, Belfast.

There is one further vacancy and we expect to announce an appointment shortly to bring the number of members up to 21, including the chairman.

In all, 15 members of the authority completed their terms this year. Ten members have been re-appointed, for terms varying between one and three years in order to avoid a large number of members completing their period of tenure at the same time:

Members Period
Diana Lady Brittan (Deputy Chairman) 1 year
Ms Liz Forgan 2 years
Most Reverend Richard Holloway 1 year
Professor Martin Johnson 3 years
Mr. Richard Jones 2 years 3 months
Dr. Brian Lieberman 3 years
Ms Angela Mays 1 year
Dr. Anne McLaren 2 years
Julia Lady Tugendhat 3 years
Mr. John Williams 2 years 3 months

These appointments were all made in accordance with guidance issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments following the First Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Report Cm 2850–1, May 1995).

The members have been selected on the basis of their experience and personal qualities. They have been chosen so as to ensure that the authority is informed by views and experience across a wide range of relevant disciplines.

We are very grateful to Professor Robert Berry, Ms Joan Harbison, Professor Stephen Hillier, and Ms Penelope Keith who are retiring, having served with the authority since its inception in 1990.

In common with all executive non-departmental public bodies, the HFEA is subject to a review every five years. The first such review of the HFEA, carried out by Mr. M. G. Lillywhite, has been completed. We have placed a copy of the report to United Kingdom Health Ministers in the Library.

The review concluded that the case for an independent statutory body in the field of human fertilisation and embryology remains valid and that there is no other body which might perform the function of the HFEA more effectively. Mr. Lillywhite made 17 recommendations, which we have accepted and for which the HFEA has agreed an implementation plan. In particular, the authority's management statement, which we placed in the Library, announced on 24th July 1996, in another place, (at col. 524 of Hansard) provides for the production of annual business plans and a corporate plan. We shall also be holding the authority to account in future through an annual accountability review.

We are very grateful to Mr. Lillywhite for his thorough report. We reaffirm our appreciation of the work undertaken by the HFEA in line with its responsibilities under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.