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Debate on the Address

My Lords, this has been a wide-ranging debate with excellent speeches from all sides of the House. I should tell the noble Lord, Lord Dearing, that it was indeed my ambition as a young teenager to become chairman of British Rail. The great stars in my firmament were Sir Peter Parker and the noble Lord, Lord Marsh. There but for the grace of God I might have gone. Instead I ended up with the much more challenging logistical task of replying to this debate, with its 33 speakers covering a vast spectrum of issues from the Roundhouse to NHS dentists via human fertilisation and the sale of the student loan book. Trying to reply to all of that is like trying to reply to a symphony orchestra with a recorder. Rather than seek to do the impossible I will concentrate in particular on comments made in the debate on the five Bills announced in the gracious Speech in the spheres of health, education and social policy. Let me start with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. It is hard to think of a piece of legislation—encompassing some of the most serious ethical, legal and medical issues of our age—which your Lordships are more fitted by means of expertise and experience to consider. The current legislation, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, stems largely from recommendations from a committee chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, in the 1980s. The fact that it has stood the test of time so well is a great tribute to the noble Baroness and her colleagues. It is also a tribute in no small part to the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, who for eight years until 2002 chaired the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority—a body which, as she said, has been copied worldwide. Since the 1990 Act, the House has contributed expertise to help frame and improve the IVF legislative structure in a number of respects. Those include the 2001 regulations that extended the use of embryos to stem cell research, the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, which prohibited reproductive cloning, and the 2002 Stem Cell Committee of the House chaired by the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries. More recently, several noble Lords were members of the Joint Committee that scrutinised the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, which is now brought forward in amended form as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. The Government appreciate the committee's very helpful work and welcome its recommendations. I was glad to hear the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, describe the Joint Committee and the government response as ““a model”” of good parliamentary and governmental practice. It has led to the Government to revise their view on a number of issues, as he and other noble Lords recognised in their speeches. In particular, as the House knows, the Government initially proposed merging the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Human Tissue Authority to form a single regulator. That proposal was questioned by the Joint Committee because, for reasons set out by the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, the committee believed that the regulatory oversight provided by the HFEA and the HTA separately was likely to be better than that of a single regulator. We have accepted that key recommendation, among others, and I am glad that our decision was welcomed by the noble Earl, Lord Howe, the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, and other speakers in the debate. The Bill to be brought forward aims to keep regulation abreast of ground-breaking scientific advancements, including embryonic stem cell research for the treatment of serious diseases. The fundamental structure of the 1990 Act, informed by the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, remains none the less unchanged. Our aim is to regulate the capacity—unforeseen in 1990—to screen embryos for serious genetic diseases and to offer legal recognition for different family forms. The Government recognise that there will be a range of opinions in the House on these matters. My noble friend Lord Warner, in particular, alongside the noble Baronesses, Lady Deech and Lady Cumberlege, mentioned the provision for fertility clinics to take account of the child's need for a father. I should make it clear that there is currently no ban on access to assisted reproduction in cases where there will not be a father. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act requires that a woman, "““shall not be provided with treatment services unless account has been taken of the welfare of any child who may be born as a result of the treatment (including the need of that child for a father)””." However, that duty is the subject of guidance by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which currently states: "““Where the child will have no legal father the treatment centre is expected to assess the prospective mother's ability to meet the child/children's needs and the ability of other persons within the family or social circle willing to share responsibility for those needs””." Therefore, the current situation is unclear and the Government, having carefully considered whether research evidence supported the continued reference in primary legislation to a duty on clinicians to give specific attention to the need for a father, concluded that the findings of research in that area tend to show that the factor of prime importance is the quality of parenting, rather than parental gender per se. On balance, therefore, the Government have decided to remove the reference to the need for a father, but to retain in primary legislation a general duty to take account of the welfare of the child. In doing so, we have taken account of the view of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee in its 2005 report, which says: "““The requirement to consider whether a child born as a result of assisted reproduction needs a father is too open to interpretation and unjustifiably offensive to many. It is wrong to imply that unjustified discrimination against 'unconventional families' is acceptable””." I do, however, accept that there are strongly held opinions on this matter, and they will be debated as the Bill proceeds. Strong opinions about other issues were also expressed in the debate today. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, talked about organ donation, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester talked about clone embryos, and the noble Earl, Lord Howe, talked about abortion. The noble Earl asked me whether we would allow a free vote on any proposals to amend the law on abortion. Like him, I hope that this issue does not overwhelm our consideration of other issues as the Bill proceeds, but there will be free votes on the government side on any amendments relating to abortion.