Zilla Bowell, director of asylum at UKBA, confirmed the trial has been put on hold after it emerged that government should have sought ethical approval for the scheme, which qualifies as health “research”.
The move was prompted by chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies, who raised concerns about whether the pilot required such approval when the scheme was announced.
In a letter to stakeholders, Bowell said: “We have discussed our proposed trial with the National Research Ethics Service (NRES) as the chief medical officer suggested.”
“NRES has concluded that our proposed trial constitutes ‘research’ and that, as such, it requires the approval of a research ethics committee before it can proceed.”
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