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National Research Ethics Service

Answer

The National Research Ethics Service (NRES) is part of the newly established Health Research Authority (HRA). The HRA was established as a special health authority on 1 December 2011. It has NRES, formerly part of the National Patient Safety Agency, at its core to ensure continuity and stability of the services provided by, and to, research ethics committees. As an arm's-length body (ALB) funded by administration funding, the HRA is expected to deliver efficiencies in its admin funding over the current spending review period. These will be achieved through organisational and system improvements, such as proportionate review and will improve the service provided to researchers while protecting research participants. The HRA published the HRA Summary Plan of Activity December 2011—March 2012 and NRES Proposals ahead of Planning for Further Service Improvement and Evaluation on 1 December 2011. These documents describe and assess the impact of the planned improvements. Feedback was invited on the NRES proposals and a summary of the comments received will be published alongside the HRA's 2012-13 business plans in April this year. The HRA, and NRES as part of it, are not required to make savings of 30 per cent in this financial year. A misunderstanding over the timing of savings appears to have arisen when the Head of NRES Operations wrote to research ethics committee chairs outlining the need for NRES to deliver efficiencies. As explained in the department's arm's- length body (ALB) Planning Guidance: Key messages and requirements for the planning period 2011-12 to 2014-15, the minimum savings imposed by the 2010 spending review is one-third of administration costs over the period of the spending review (2011-12 to 2014-15). This means the total admin funding provided by the department as income to ALBs (eg through grant-in-aid) will fall by at least this amount over this period. Funding which is classified as programme will not be subject to this reduction.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

15426; 735 c118-9WA

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Finance National Research Ethics Service

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk