HC Deb 26 February 2002 vol 380 cc1065-6W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the(a) remit and (b) responsibilities of the Technology Advisory Group are; and if he will list (i) the members and (ii) their declared interests. [28813]

Ms Blears

[holding answer 21 January 2002]The Technologies Advisory Group is an internal Department of Health committee, with external advisers, which advises Ministers on topics which might be referred for appraisal by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). Members of the group and advisers are asked to declare interests in relation to specific topics under discussion. We will shortly be publishing a consultation paper with proposals to clarify and strengthen the way in which topics are selected for referral to NICE, including proposals for the future composition of the Technologies Advisory Group.