To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 19 January (WA 224-5), why the information held by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on the use of eggs is limited; from what source Lord Darzi of Denham provided information on the use of eggs in treatment and research in his Written Answers on 19 June 2008 (WA 178-86); and what was the mean number of eggs collected per cycle at the Newcastle Fertility Centre in each year since 2004. [HL1421]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 19 January (WA 224–5), why the use of 681 human eggs was not recorded under research licence R0122 in the manner indicated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority chief executive’s letter dated 9 November 2009. [HL1422]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 5 December 2007 (WA 195-6) and by Baroness Thornton on 19 January 2010 (WA 224-5), whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority still holds records of numbers of eggs pertaining to every cycle of in vitro fertilisation treatment carried out in the United Kingdom; and, if not, why that information is no longer maintained. [HL1423]

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was the source of the information provided by Lord Darzi of Denham to the noble Lord in his Written Answer of 19 June 2008 (WA 178-86). The mean number of eggs collected per cycle (in which egg collection was intended), at the Newcastle Fertility Centre, is shown in the following table.

Source: HFEA

The HFEA has advised that the information held on its register, regarding eggs, is in line with the requirements of Section 31 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended. The HFEA has also advised that, with regard to the use of eggs in research and also its research licence R0122, it has nothing further to add to the information given in my answer of 19 January 2010 (WA 224-5).

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what files the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessors hold on (a) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and (b) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts 1990 and 2008. [HL1424]

The main interest that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has in the Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority (HFEA) arises out of the Hampton Report (Reducing Administrative Burdens: Effective Inspection and Enforcement, HM Treasury 2005). There are a series of files relating to the work that the Better Regulation Executive has been conducting with a wide range of national regulators to follow up on the report.

It is conceivable that documents relating to the HFEA and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts 1990 and 2008 appear on a number of other files held by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessor departments, but a search for each and every document could not be conducted without incurring disproportionate cost.