Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 June 2005
Thu, 27 October 2005
Council (05) 3rd Meeting
NUFFIELD COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS
Minutes of the Meeting held at 28 Bedford Square London WC1B 3JS on 22 June 2005 at 10.30am
PRESENT:
Professor Sir Bob Hepple QC FBA (Chairman)
Professor Catherine Peckham (Deputy Chair)
Professor Tom Baldwin
Professor Margot Brazier
Professor Roger Brownsword
Professor Sir Kenneth Calman
Professor Peter Harper
The Rt Reverend Richard Harries
Professor Peter Lipton
Dr Alan Williamson
APOLOGIES:
Lord Plant of Highfield, Professor Peter Smith, Professor Herbert Sewell, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern, Harald Schmidt
SECRETARIAT:
Professor Sandy Thomas, Dr Catherine Moody, Carol Perkins, Cath Joynson, Caroline Rogers, Mun-Keat Looi and Anais Rameau
Some changes to the Secretariat were noted. This would be the final meeting for Mun-Keat Looi, who was leaving to study for an MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College. The Chairman thanked him for his excellent work. He welcomed Carol Perkins who had joined the Secretariat in April as the Administrator to the Council to her first meeting. He also introduced Anais Rameau who had recently joined the Secretariat as an intern to assist with the preparation of a background paper for Working Party on Public Health.
MINUTES OF (05) 2ND MEETING
1 It was agreed that the Minutes were an accurate record of the meeting held on 17 March.
MATTERS ARISING
2 There were no matters arising, other than those itemised on the agenda.
CHAIRMAN’S ITEMS
MEMBERSHIP
3 The Chairman reported that the advertisement for new members had appeared in the Guardian on 1 June and the New Scientist on 2 June. The vacancies were also advertised on the Council’s website. The closing date was 1 July.
FORWARD LOOK MEETING AND FUTURE TOPICS
Council (05) 25
4 The Chairman reported on the Forward Look meeting. The lecture by Professor Norman Daniels had taken place on the 11 May and a Seminar was held the following day, at which possible future topics had been discussed. It was agreed that the two day event had been very worthwhile. In particular, arranging the meeting attendees into breakout groups as part of the Forward Look seminar had worked very well. In the light of the discussion at the Seminar, the Council discussed a number of possible future topics.
LAUNCH OF THE ETHICS OF RESEARCH INVOLVING ANIMALS REPORT
Council (05) 26
5 The Council noted the details of the launch that were provided in the paper. The Report had been downloaded 22,113 times by 14 June.
WORKING PARTY ON THE ETHICS OF PROLONGING LIFE IN FETUSES AND THE NEWBORN Council (05) 27
6 Professor Brazier reported that progress with the Working Party was generally good. Drafting had begun on the social and ethical issues, with Professor David Archard playing a leading role. The Working Party had commissioned a background paper on the legal situation in other European countries to provide the basis for a fact-finding meeting with legal experts from the universities of Manchester and Birmingham that would be held during the summer. In addition to fact-finding meetings, there was also an opportunity to work with schools through a grant from the Wellcome Trust to the UK branch of the European Network of Science Centres and Museums (ECSITE).
7 The Deputy Director explained that the Council had received a request for the consultation document to be made available in different formats to facilitate access by people with disabling conditions. The Secretariat wished to raise this as a general issue. It was difficult to gauge the level of demand, which might also vary depending on the topic. However, it would appear that other organisations were beginning to make documents available in other formats. After consideration of the various options, members agreed that there should be a facility on the website to provide large text and audio versions of all of the Council’s consultation Papers and Reports. This change would need to be publicised in an appropriate way.
WORKING PARTY ON THE ETHICS OF PUBLIC HEALTH
8 The Director reported that a chair had been appointed to the Working Party. The Secretariat was due to meet with the chair on 15 July to discuss membership, the terms of reference and other issues. Once membership was finalised, the Working Party would be announced in a press release.
GENETIC SCREENING
Council (05) 28
9 Professor Harper reported on the progress of the draft Discussion Paper to follow up the Council’s 1993 Report. The responses to peer review had all been most helpful.
10 Members agreed that the document should be published both on the Web and in printed form as an update of the original Report and not an in depth review of the ethical and legal framework. It should be made clear in the preface and elsewhere that the Paper was a selective updating of the Report on Genetic Screening. It was agreed that the original Report (now out of print) and the update should be reprinted at the same time.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
FIVE YEAR FUNDING BID
Council (05) 29
11 The Director introduced this paper which was based on early advice from a Council Subgroup. It represented a first draft of the funding bid which was due to go to the Funders at the beginning of September. The Secretariat was examining a variety of potential indicators for measuring how the Council had achieved its objectives, including the number of reports distributed and what the impact made by the Council’s recommendations. Educational activities should continue to be one of the strands of the Council’s work. The Subgroup on Reaching out to Young People Subgroup should be reconvened with Professor Calman continuing as Chair.
12 The Council agreed the next draft of the funding bid should be considered initially by the original Subgroup. It should then be circulated to the Council as a whole.
3RD BI-LATERAL MEETING WITH NATIONALER ETHIKRAT
13 The Director reported that the 26th and 27th October had been suggested as possible dates for the meeting with the Nationaler Ethikrat, which would be in Berlin. These were the dates scheduled for the NE’s next Council meeting. However, there was some uncertainty about who would attend, as the German Council was undergoing an election exercise at the end of June. It was agreed that the dates should be circulated to Members of the Nuffield Council to canvas their availability. The topic for discussions should be proposed by the hosts.
POSSIBLE WORKSHOP: BIOINFORMATION FOR FORENSIC PURPOSES
14 Members confirmed that a workshop or seminar on this topic should be held early in the New Year. Possible terms of reference might be presented to the Council at the October meeting. In case of overlap, the Chairman proposed to discuss the plans with the Human Genetics Commission which was known to be looking at the narrower topic of the forensic use of genetic information.
NATIONAL FORUM OF ETHICS COMMITTEES
Council (05) 30
15 The Director reported that the UK was due to host the National Forum in the second half of 2005. The Council had been approached by the Department of Health to explore the possibility of co-hosting the meeting. Members were invited to consider the proposed role for the Council and to advise on the draft programme. It was agreed that the Council should co-host the Forum and that the two topics selected were suitable.
TO REPORT
BIOETHICS BRIEFING: ACTIVITIES OF OTHER ORGANISATIONS
Council (05) 31
16 The briefing was received and noted.
UNESCO DECLARATION ON UNIVERSAL NORMS ON BIOETHICS
17 Members noted the paper.
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR YEAR TO 31 APRIL (SUBJECT TO AUDIT)
Council (05) 32
18 The Management Accounts for the period up to 31 April 2005 were received and noted.
COUNCIL’S REVISED DRAFT WORK PLAN FOR 2005
Council (05) 33
19 The Council’s revised Draft Work Plan was received and noted.
QUARTERLY BULLETIN
Information (05) 05
20 This paper was noted.
WEB REPORT
Information (05) 06
21 The web report figures were noted.
MEETING DATES FOR 2005
(all commencing at 10.30 am)
Wednesday 19 October
MEETING DATES FOR 2006
(all commencing at 10.30 am)
Wednesday 18 January
Thursday 23 March
Wednesday 21 June
Thursday 19 October
Forward Look event: Thursday 11 May
All meetings will be held at 28 Bedford Square
Last Updated Thu, 23 October 2008