§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what inquiries(a) his officials and (b) the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down have conducted since 1 January 1997 into allegations that service personnel were duped into taking part in experiments at Porton Down when they believed that they were taking part in research to find a cure for the common cold; and when each inquiry was conducted. [160061]
§ Dr. MoonieSome research has been carried out in response to inquiries from former volunteers, parliamentarians and the Wiltshire police.
Many of the details of the trials that were undertaken at Porton Down are in the public domain, and papers in the Public Record Office. The subject has been covered in numerous publications. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has done selective research of the public record and the Porton archive in support of the Wiltshire police inquiry and the Volunteers helpline. However, there has never been an opportunity for MOD to conduct a full and thorough search of all the sources, in particular the Porton archives, which contain unpublished technical papers, the original experimental books, and other contemporary material.
Against this background, we will conduct a comprehensive survey of the Volunteer programme. It will:
Be conducted by MOD officials and will be supervised by Professor Ian Kennedy, an external appointee from the School of Public Policy, University College, London.Cover the period 1939 to 1989 because this is the period of most concern to surviving volunteers, and is the period of highest volunteer throughput.Attempt to give a full description of the size and shape of the trials programme listing what exposures took place, and how many volunteers were exposed to particular substances, in what manner.551W The survey will seek, record and analyse all original documentation available relating to the way in which volunteers were recruited; the terms in which the programme was described to them; protocols for informing volunteers of the individual experiments; evidence of how risks were assessed and communicated to participants; evidence of whether and how consent was obtained. The survey will also look at how the relevant internal and external supervision of the programme developed together with evidence of how the practices in the trials reflected contemporary international and national ethical guidelines.The findings of the Survey will be published.