Press releases and statements

HFEA to remain as independent regulator of assisted reproduction

17 July 2013

The Department of Health has announced today that the HFEA will be retained as the independent regulator of assisted reproduction and embryo research across the UK.

This news follows an independent review carried out by Justin McCracken which looked into the functions of the HFEA and Human Tissue Authority (HTA), asking whether these could be carried out more efficiently and whether merging the two regulatory bodies would reduce costs and any operational overlap.

McCracken concluded that there is little overlap between the HFEA and HTA and that public confidence in the sensitive areas they regulate would be best served by  the two expert bodies remaining independent, while seeking further efficiencies through the sharing of support services.

This advice has been accepted by the Government.

In addition, McCracken has made a number of recommendations for change, many of which are already underway. The HFEA welcomes these recommendations and will report on progress to the next meeting of the Authority in September.

Ends

 

 

Notes to editors

  • The independent review by Justin McCracken makes 18 recommendations, 13 of which are relevant to the HFEA. These will be discussed by the HFEA Authority at the next Open Authority meeting in September 2013.
  • View the review - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-human-fertilisation-embryology-authority-and-human-tissue-authority 
  • The Government response to the McCracken review sets out the proposed actions against each of the recommendations.
  • The recommendations build on the programme of efficiencies already delivered by the HFEA in response to austerity in the public finances. Since 2010 the HFEA has reduced its total expenditure by over one-third, staffing is down by 20% and we have introduced a 28% reduction in the fees we charge to the sector.
  • The proposal to share support services like finance is predicted to achieve further savings to government of £2.8m over 10 years.
  • The HFEA is the independent regulator for IVF treatment and embryo research. Our role is to protect patients and the public interest, to drive improvement in the treatment and research sectors and to provide information to the public and policymakers about treatment and research.
  • The HFEA was set up in August 1991 as part of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.  The HFEA’s principal tasks are to license and monitor clinics that carry out in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination (AI) and human embryo research. The HFEA also regulates the storage of gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos.

For further information please contact the HFEA press office on 020 7291 8226 or email press.office@hfea.gov.uk / jay.stone@hfea.gov.uk

Page last updated: 17 July 2013