In the United Kingdom , non-departmental public body ( NDPB ) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office , Treasury , the Scottish Government , and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of national government but are not part of a government department. NDPBs carry out their work largely independently from ministers and are accountable to the public through Parliament ; however, ministers are responsible for the independence, effectiveness, and efficiency of non-departmental public bodies in their portfolio.
23-556: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ( HFEA ) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United Kingdom providing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs , sperm or embryos . It also regulates human embryo research. After
46-543: A small secretariat from the parent department, and any expenditure is paid for by that department. These bodies usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than ministers. Appointments are made by ministers following the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments . They employ their own staff and allocate their own budgets. These bodies have jurisdiction over an area of
69-609: Is responsible for their costs and has to note all expenses. NDPB differ from executive agencies as they are not created to carry out ministerial orders or policy, instead they are more or less self-determining and enjoy greater independence. They are also not directly part of government like a non-ministerial government department being at a remove from both ministers and any elected assembly or parliament. Typically an NDPB would be established under statute and be accountable to Parliament rather than to His Majesty's Government . This arrangement allows more financial independence since
92-616: The law . They are coordinated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service , an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice , and supervised by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council , itself an NDPB sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. These bodies were formerly known as "boards of visitors" and are responsible for the state of prisons, their administration, and the treatment of prisoners. The Home Office
115-612: The Act are: The current statutory functions of the HFEA, as a regulator under the HFE Acts 1990 and 2008 and other legislation include: Multiple pregnancy is the single biggest risk to patients and children born as a result of fertility treatment. Women undergoing IVF treatment are twenty times more likely to have a multiple birth than if they conceive naturally. After carefully considering views from clinics, patients and professional bodies,
138-625: The Department of Health undertook a review of the 1990 Act. They then held a public consultation based on their review of the Act, and following this published a White Paper, Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, within which Government presented its initial proposals to revise the legislation. A Joint Committee of both houses scrutinised the Government's recommendations, and provided its views on what ought to be
161-650: The European Union (EU). The purpose of the directives was to facilitate a safer and easier exchange of tissues and cells (including human eggs and sperm) between member states and to improve safety standards for European citizens. The EUTCD was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 2 March 2004 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 7 April 2004. Member States were obliged to comply with its provisions from 7 April 2006. In 2005,
184-845: The HFEA decided to set a maximum multiple birth rate that clinics should not exceed, which will be lowered each year. All clinics will have their own strategy setting out how they will lower the multiple birth rate in their clinic by identifying the patients for whom single embryo transfer is the most appropriate treatment. The HFEA aims to reduce multiple births from IVF treatment to 10% over a period of years. Former Chairs include Professor Lisa Jardine , Walter Merricks , Shirley Harrison, Lord Harries , Dame Suzi Leather , Baroness Deech , Sir Colin Campbell and Sally Cheshire. Other notable former members include Professor Emily Jackson and Margaret Auld , former Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland. Non-departmental public body The term includes
207-560: The House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee published a report on Human Reproductive Technologies and the Law. This inquiry investigated the legislative framework provided by the 1990 Act and challenges presented by technological advance and "recent changes in ethical and societal attitudes". In light of the Committee's report, and legislative changes that had already been made,
230-496: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001/188 extended the purposes for which embryo research could be licensed to include "increasing knowledge about the development of embryos", "increasing knowledge about serious disease", and "enabling any such knowledge to be applied in developing treatments for serious disease". This allows researchers to carry out embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning providing that an HFEA Licence Committee considers
253-555: The Labour government in office from 1997 to 2010, though the political controversy associated with NDPBs in the mid-1990s for the most part died away. In 2010 the UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition published a review of NDPBs recommending closure or merger of nearly two hundred bodies, and the transfer of others to the private sector. This process was colloquially termed the "bonfire of the quangos". NDPBs are classified under code S.13112 of
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#1732791770835276-594: The UK Government. This total included 198 executive NDPBs, 410 advisory bodies, 33 tribunals, 21 public corporations, the Bank of England , 2 public broadcasting authorities and 23 NHS bodies. However, the classification is conservative and does not include bodies that are the responsibility of devolved government , various lower tier boards (including a considerable number within the NHS), and also other boards operating in
299-457: The birth of Louise Brown , the world's first IVF baby, in 1978, there was concern about the implications of this new technology. In 1982, the UK government formed a committee chaired by philosopher Mary Warnock to look into the issues and see what action needed to be taken. Hundreds of interested individuals including doctors, scientists and organisations such as health, patient and parent organisations as well as religious groups gave evidence to
322-516: The committee. In the years following the Warnock report, proposals were brought forward by the government in the publication of a white paper Human Fertilisation and Embryology: A Framework for Legislation in 1987. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 was drafted taking the report into account. The 1990 Act provided for the establishment of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), an executive, non-departmental public body,
345-638: The creation of a "public appointments commissioner" to make sure that appropriate standards were met in the appointment of members of NDPBs. The Government accepted the recommendation, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments was established in November 1995. While in opposition, the Labour Party promised to reduce the number and power of NDPBs. The use of NDPBs continued under
368-451: The final form of the Bill to be brought to parliament. The Bill was finally brought to the House of Lords in November 2007, passing through the House of Commons through Spring and Autumn of 2008, and finally receiving Royal Assent on 13 November 2008. The HFE Act 2008 updates the law to ensure it is fit for purpose in the 21st century. It is divided into three parts: The main new elements of
391-427: The first statutory body of its type in the world. The HFEA is the independent regulator for IVF treatment and human embryo research and came into effect on 1 August 1991. The 1990 Act ensured the regulation, through licensing, of: The Act also requires the HFEA keep a database of every IVF treatment carried out since that date and a database relating to all cycles and use of donated gametes (egg and sperm). In 2001,
414-419: The four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal, and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations and public broadcasters ( BBC , Channel 4 , and S4C ). The UK Government classifies bodies into four main types. The Scottish Government also has a fifth category: NHS bodies . These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. They are often supported by
437-490: The government is obliged to provide funding to meet statutory obligations. NDPBs are sometimes referred to as quangos . However, this term originally referred to quasi-NGOs bodies that are, at least ostensibly, non-government organisations , but nonetheless perform governmental functions. The backronym "quasi-autonomous national government organization" is used in this usage which is normally pejorative. In March 2009 there were nearly 800 public bodies that were sponsored by
460-530: The identity of their sperm, egg or embryo donor upon reaching the age of 18. The Regulations were implemented on 1 April 2005 and any donor who donated sperm, eggs or embryos from that date onwards is, by law, identifiable. Since that date, any person born as a result of donation is entitled to request and receive the donor's name and last known address, once they reach the age of 18. The European Union Tissues and Cells Directives (EUTCD) introduced common safety and quality standards for human tissues and cells across
483-611: The public sector (e.g. school governors and police authorities). These appointed bodies performed a large variety of tasks, for example health trusts , or the Welsh Development Agency , and by 1992 were responsible for some 25% of all government expenditure in the UK. According to the Cabinet Office their total expenditure for the financial year 2005–06 was £167 billion. As of March 2020, there were 237 non-departmental public bodies. Critics argued that
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#1732791770835506-683: The system was open to abuse as most NDPBs had their members directly appointed by government ministers without an election or consultation with the people. The press , critical of what was perceived as the Conservatives' complacency in power in the 1990s, presented much material interpreted as evidence of questionable government practices. This concern led to the formation of a Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) which first reported in 1995 and recommended
529-496: The use of embryos necessary or desirable for one of these purposes of research. The Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001 was introduced to explicitly prohibit reproductive cloning in the UK, but it was repealed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 . In 2004, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (Disclosure of Donor Information) Regulations 2004/1511, enabled donor-conceived children to access
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