HFEA will remain independent, says UK Government

The Department of Health has announced that the Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will remain the independent regulator of
assisted reproduction and embryo research in the UK. The decision follows an independent review of the HFEA and the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), the
regulator for human tissue research.

In 2010 the Government's plans to transfer functions
from the HFEA and the HTA to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Health
Research Agency (HRA) were made public (see BioNews 577). However, after a public consultation (see BioNews 690) dissuaded the government
from this course of action, it then considered merging the HFEA with the HTA to
reduce expenditure and bureaucracy and to simplify regulation.

The independent review of the two bodies, carried out by
Justin McCracken, the former chief executive of the now-dissolved Health Protection Agency,
contained 18 recommendations, 13 of which were relevant to the HFEA. It found
that there was little practical overlap in their work with that of the HTA.

The recommendations included the need to maintain public
confidence in the activities that the HFEA and HTA regulate, and while both
organisations enjoy that trust at the moment, merging them could risk losing
it. The HFEA issued a short statement saying that 'many of [the proposed
changes] are already underway'.

The report further suggested that to improve transparency,
both organisations needed to improve their consultations with stakeholders when
carrying out their regulatory activities. Other recommendations included the need for
the HFEA to rebalance its activities somewhat, for example by ensuring that
appropriate standards of practice are implemented consistently throughout the
sector. The HFEA was reminded that it should
implement its agreement with the CQC, to ensure that the two bodies do not
duplicate regulatory work.

Although the organisations will retain their distinct
identities, the report suggested that the support services could be combined
and managed by a single director of finance and resources, which would save an
estimated £2.8 million over ten years.

The Department of Health has accepted all the
recommendations and will consider the support services suggestion. It has already held preliminary
discussions with the HFEA and HTA about the recommendations.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for public health, Anna Soubry, said in a written statement: 'We believe that implementation will bring about increased efficiency and effectiveness of the regulators whilst maintaining public and professional confidence in these sensitive and complex areas'.