To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any human embryos have been used in the United Kingdom for medical experimentation during the past two years; and under what statutory provisions such work is performed.

Medical experimentation on human embryos is not at present controlled by legislation. However, the Interim Licensing Authority (ILA), which was established by the Medical Research Council and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, currently approves centres which carry out embryo research. The Government have introduced the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to provide a legal framework for scientific developments in the field of human reproduction and embryology.