§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human embryos are currently in storage; when the licensing authority last met; and if he will list the applications made to the authority in the past year, indicating which were(a) granted and (b) refused. [90646]
§ Ms JowellEmbryos may only be stored in accordance with a licence issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Clinics are required to notify the HFEA of the number of embryos placed in storage. There are some embryos which were stored before the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 came into force. Clinics were not required to notify the HFEA of these.
According to the most recent verified information held by the HFEA, between 1 August 1991 and 31 March 1997 the number of embryos put into storage during the course of IVF treatment cycles was 144,297.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority last met on 24 June 1999. All licensing decisions are made by Licence Committees which comprise at least three to five HFEA members. The Licensing Committee last met on 8 July 1999.
Over the period July 1998 to June 1999 the HFEA received a total of 126 applications for licences. No applications were rejected. The applications granted were as follows:
- Treatment Service Centres—licence renewals: 105
- Treatment Service Centres—new applications: 6
- Research licences—licence renewals: 10
- Research licences—new applications: 5
In total, 92 of the 126 licences granted included provision for storage of embryos. Out of these, 77 were issued to treatment service centres and 15 of these licences were issued exclusively for research purposes.