Interim Chair for the HTA

The HTA has announced the appointment of an interim Chair. Shirley Harrison, who was previously a lay member of the Authority, took up the position on 1 October 2006.

Issue date: 9 October 2006

The HTA has today (9 October 2006) announced the appointment of an interim Chair. Shirley Harrison, who was previously a lay member of the Authority, took up the position on 1 October 2006.

The HTA’s former Chair, Baroness Hayman, stepped down from her role on 30 September to become Speaker of the House of Lords.

Adrian McNeil, Chief Executive of the HTA said: “I am very pleased to announce that Shirley Harrison will be the interim Chair for the Human Tissue Authority. Shirley has been a member of the HTA since it was established, so is familiar with the work of the Authority and embraces its vision and values. I look forward to working with her to continue promoting best practice across the sectors regulated by the HTA.”

Shirley Harrison will chair the HTA on an interim basis until a joint Chair is appointed for the HTA and Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). This appointment is planned in the run-up to the creation of the new Regulatory Authority for Tissue and Embryos, which will combine the statutory functions that are currently the responsibility of the HTA and HFEA.

Shirley Harrison is a magistrate and chairs the South Yorkshire Probation Board. She acts as a patient representative in the field of cancer research, with particular interests in translational research and genetics. Shirley’s professional career has been in marketing and public relations as a practitioner, an academic and an author.

Read a biography for Shirley Harrison.

ENDS

For further information contact the HTA: Stuart Giblin 020 7211 3416, stuart.giblin@hta.gov.uk or Daisy Thomas 020 7211 3417, daisy.thomas@hta.gov.uk 
 
Notes to editors
 
1. The details of the appointment of the interim Chair are as follows:

Appointment: Ms Shirley Harrison, interim Chair
Remuneration: £30,000 per annum
Declared political activity in the last five years: none
Other ministerial appointments held: Magistrate (Department for Constitutional Affairs), Member of HMCS Courts Board (Department for Constitutional Affairs), Chair of Probation Board (Home Office)

This appointment has been made in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Code of Practice.

2. The HTA was established on 1 April 2005 to regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue for a number of ‘Scheduled Purposes’ – such as research, transplantation, and education and training – set out in the Human Tissue Act 2004 (HT Act).
 
3. The HT Act covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is separate legislation in Scotland – the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 – and the HTA will perform certain tasks on behalf of the Scottish Executive (approval of living donation of organs and licensing of establishments storing tissue for human application).
 
4. As the regulator under the HT Act, the HTA is responsible for licensing a number of activities and carrying out inspections to ensure licence conditions are being met. These licensable activities are:

• Anatomical examination
• Post mortem examination
• Removal of material from deceased persons in certain circumstances
• Storage of post mortem material
• Storage of anatomical specimens
• Storage of material from a living person (e.g. for research)
• Public display of a body or material from a deceased person.

Establishments storing tissue for human application are regulated under the EU Tissues and Cells Directive and required a licence from 7 April 2006.  All other activities required a licence from 1 September 2006.

5. Subscribe to the HTA e-newsletter ‘Current issue’ to keep up-to-date with the work of the HTA.