The Health Research Authority (HRA) launched on 01 December 2011 as a Special Health Authority (SpHA), completing one of the key commitments made by the Government in the Plan for Growth, published in March 2011, towards rationalising and improving health research regulation.

The Health Research Authority has a vital role to play in the health research system. Its central purpose is to protect and promote the interests of patients and the public in health research. The HRA will co-operate with others to combine and streamline the current approval system and promote consistent, proportionate standards for compliance and inspection. In doing so it will reduce the regulatory burden on research-active businesses, universities and the NHS, and improve the efficiency and robustness of decisions about research projects.