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Protective OFFICIAL Marking Professor Charlotte Roberts Department of Archaeology Durham University South Road Durham DH1 3LE Human Tissue Authority 151 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1W 9SZ Tel 020 7269 1927 Email [email protected] Web www.hta.gov.uk Date 29 March 2016 Dear Professor Roberts, Licensing requirements of the Human Tissue Act 2014 I understand that museums and universities are regularly approached by schools or members of the public offering donations of human skeletons from old teaching collections, and that these are sometimes turned down because of concerns about possible breaches of human tissue legislation. I am therefore writing to clarify the licensing requirements of the Human Tissue Act 204 (HT Act), in the hope that these do not present a barrier to the acceptance of specimens by any academic establishment or museum that feels they can put them to good use. A licence from the HTA is only required if the specimens are being stored for use for a scheduled purpose, as set out in Schedule 1 of the HT Act, or a licensable activity is taking place, for example public display. The scheduled purposes are listed below: Anatomical examination Determining the cause of death Establishing after a person’s death the efficacy of any drug or other treatment administered to him Obtaining scientific or medical information about a living or deceased person which may be relevant to any other person (including a future person) Public display Research in connection with disorders, or the functioning, of the human body Transplantation Clinical audit Education or training relating to human health Performance assessment Public health monitoring Quality assurance Because of the specificity of the scheduled purposes, establishments engaged in the teaching of other subjects such as forensic archaeology, anthropology or related disciplines are unlikely to fall within the scope of the licensing provisions. However, I would advise some caution when approached about specimens that pre-date the commencement of the HT Act in September 2006 but that are less than 100 years old. If these are ‘existing holdings’, i.e. specimens that were being held for use for a scheduled purpose at the time HT Act came into force, they cannot be used for other purposes. We are aware that some museums hold specimens with no intention of ever putting them on public display, but wish to keep them as part of a museum archive of items of historical interest or for ethnographic or anthropological research. In these cases, if the establishment informs the HTA in writing of its intention never to display the material, the HTA will be satisfied that the retention of this material falls outside its remit. The legislative requirements of the HT Act do not apply to specimens if more than 100 years have elapsed since the date of the person’s death. There may be circumstances where no evidence exists to confirm the date of the specimen, but there is good reason to believe that it is more than 100 years old. In such cases, the HTA will accept a written statement of the likely age of the specimen from an independent and objective expert in the field. I hope this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me, or pass on my details, if I can be of any further assistance. Yours sincerely Caroline Browne Head of Regulation 2