Hampton Implementation Review

New report finds the HTA is risk-based, proportionate and transparent.

Issue date: 23 July 2009

The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) has today published its report of the Hampton Implementation Review (HIR) of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA). The review, carried out in November 2008, praised the HTA for using the principles of Better Regulation to ensure we are risk-based, proportionate and transparent. The review team rated the HTA highly on provision of advice and guidance and minimisation of inspections and data collection burdens.

The review also found that HTA:

• has done a lot to keep the costs of regulation to a minimum
• inspectors are helpful and pragmatic
• staff are described as supportive, friendly and approachable

The review recommended that in the future the HTA should:

• continue to monitor the effectiveness of our regulatory activity by commissioning surveys of public perception about handling human tissue, at regular intervals
• work with the Department of Health to update/amend the Human Tissue Act, using the feedback and experience gained from the first years of its implementation

Dr Sandy Mather, Director of Regulation at the Human Tissue Authority, said:

"Better Regulation principles are even more important in this time of economic uncertainty. We were praised for minimising bureaucracy, keeping costs down and giving clear advice and guidance. We welcome the suggestions of things we could do for the future and will try to continue to operate as efficiently as possible using Better Regulation principles."

Ends

For more information, or for someone to interview, please contact Dr Claire Bithell, Senior Media Advisor at the HTA on 0207 211 3439 or claire.bithell@hta.gov.uk

Notes to editors

1. The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is a watchdog that protects public
confidence by licensing organisations that store and use human tissue
for purposes such as research, patient treatment, post-mortem
examination, teaching, and public exhibitions. We also give approval
for organ and bone marrow donations from living people.

2. The Hampton Review of regulatory inspection and enforcement was commissioned by HM Treasury and published in 2005. It is one of the cornerstones of the Better Regulation agenda, and since publication, regulators including the Authority, have been working to embed the principles identified by Hampton across all their regulatory activities. These reviews are in-depth and independent and give a detailed picture of a regulators current performance and direction of travel. Compliance by regulators with these principles is not only beneficial to industry, successfully regulating in a more proportionate and risk-aware way enables the Authority to concentrate resource and focus on areas where we can make a real difference to public health outcomes.

3. The Hampton Principles are:

• regulators, and the regulatory system as a whole, should use comprehensive risk assessment to concentrate resources on the areas that need them most
• no inspection should take place without a reason
• regulators should provide authoritative, accessible advice easily and cheaply

• all regulations should be written so that they are easily understood, easily implemented, and easily enforced, and all interested parties should be consulted when they are being drafted

• businesses should not have to give unnecessary information, nor give the same piece of information twice
• the few businesses that persistently break regulations should be identified quickly, and face proportionate and meaningful sanctions
• regulators should recognise that a key element of their activity will be to allow, or even encourage, economic progress and only to intervene when there is a clear case for protection
• regulators should be accountable for the efficiency and effectiveness of their activities, while remaining independent in the decisions they take
• regulators should be of the right size and scope, and no new regulator should be created where an existing one can do the work

• when new policies are being developed, explicit consideration should be given to how they can be enforced using existing systems and data to minimise the administrative burden imposed

4. The full Hampton Implementation Review Report can be found on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website:
www.berr.gov.uk/files/file52319.pdf

5. More information about the Better Regulation Executive can be found:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/bre/