Schedule 3 - Licences for the purposes of section 13
Human Tissue Bill
11:00 am
Dr Stephen Ladyman (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health; South Thanet, Labour)
Yes, in that, in setting that fee, we will be recovering the full cost of the application. However, it will not be a mechanism by which people can avoid the costs, if that was what the hon. Gentleman was looking for.
On the substantive point about he difference between this Bill and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire has a good point: there should be a mechanism short of revocation. One question is whether that requires sanctions short of revocation or whether it should be a matter of providing advice. In the latter case, whether or not that advice is accepted and acted on could inform the process of revocation.
If an organisation was not complying, it would be appropriate for the authority to explain to the organisation how it was not complying and what it was doing. In deciding whether to revoke the licence it would also want to take into account whether the organisation responded to that advice. Although there may not be a sanction short of revocation, I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman is right to say that such a sanction is needed. The response to any advice would be important.