Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of animals in scientific procedures undertaken to meet regulatory requirements outside the UK and EU.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are supporting the development, validation and international acceptance of alternative methods, including through the forthcoming UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM), engagement with international regulators and participation in OECD test guideline programmes. We are also strengthening bilateral and multilateral partnerships to support the global uptake of validated alternatives, helping to reduce reliance on animal testing while maintaining high standards of human, animal and environmental safety.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of public funding allocated to the development, validation and uptake of human-specific research methods in each year from 2020 to 2025.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 August 2026 to Question UIN 23680 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how much funding was provided to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research in each year from 2020 to 2025; and what proportion of that funding was allocated to replacing the use of animals in scientific procedures.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 08 September 2026 to Question UIN 23681 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how much funding was provided to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) each year between 2020-2025; and what proportion of that funding was spent on activities intended to replace the use of animals in scientific procedures (as opposed to activities focused on refinement or reduction).
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NC3Rs receives funding from a number of sources. Its core funding is provided by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) which are part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Core funding for financial years:
2020/21: £9.35M
2021/22: £9.45M
2022/23: £10.20M
2023/24: £10.00M
2024/25: £10.10M
2025/26: £7.93M
Replacement of the use of animals is included in all NC3Rs programmes with the exception of its animal welfare projects. Between 2020/21 and 2024/25, more than 80% of grants awarded by the NC3Rs have been to replace the use of animals.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the total amount of public funding allocated to the development, validation and uptake of human-specific research methods each year between 2020-2025.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invests in a range of human-specific research that does not rely on animal studies. Many studies developing and using human-specific and alternative methods are classified as basic research, so any funding values given would be an underestimate. Examples include the Medical Research Council’s Experimental Medicine programme, a £15 million UKRI, NC3Rs and Wellcome funding call for novel human in vitro models of complex disease, and an £18 million Experimental Medicine funding call on neurodegeneration. Between 2020 and 2025, UKRI also invested approximately £10 million annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2025, published in July 2026, what steps he is taking to replace the use of cats in science with human-specific technologies.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to reducing and replacing the use of specially protected species, including cats, in scientific research through the Replacing Animals in Science strategy. The strategy supports the development, validation and regulatory uptake of human-specific technologies, including advanced cell-based models, organ-on-a-chip systems, data-driven approaches and AI-enabled tools. The use of specially protected species remains subject to stringent controls and is permitted only where no validated alternative exists.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of enforcement powers to remove unsafe infant products from online marketplaces.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under existing legislation, businesses must only supply safe consumer products. Relevant authorities have powers to require withdrawal of unsafe products from supply and, where appropriate, their recall. The Office for Product Safety and Standards coordinates regulatory activity to ensure online marketplaces prevent and remove any unsafe products from their sites.
The Government recently consulted on proposals to simplify and strengthen the current fragmented enforcement framework. These reforms are intended to create a clearer, more coherent regulatory regime, giving relevant authorities the tools they need to identify and tackle unsafe products across supply chains, including products sold through online marketplaces.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of heatwaves on economic growth and business productivity.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Climate Change Committee estimates climate change damages in the UK could grow to 1–5% of GDP by 2050 under a 2 degree global warming level. Climate adaptation can protect businesses and productivity, and support economic growth in new markets.
The ONS Business Insights and Conditions Survey monitors the impacts of severe weather events on business, including increased temperatures or heat. The Department for Business and Trade is considering the impacts of extreme heat on economic growth and business productivity to support government to develop an ambitious fourth National Adaptation Programme in 2028.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation on the UK’s new product safety framework.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The formal consultation on the UK’s new product safety framework closed on 23 June. It received considerable interest from businesses, consumer groups and other stakeholders, including members of the public and we are now analysing the responses received. Delivering the new product safety framework is a priority for the Department. Given the breadth and complexity of the issues raised, it is important that we analyse and carefully consider the feedback from stakeholders before finalising the Government's position. Following this consideration, we will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what mechanisms businesses should use to differentiate between steel that can and cannot be made in the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has published a provisional list of product codes covered by the steel trade measure on gov.uk. This will be updated shortly, following ongoing engagement with industry.
The measure is designed to only cover steel requirements that can be made in the UK. In some instances, this is not feasible for technical reasons, for example where single product codes contain different sizes of steel products with some of the sizes produced in the UK and potential for steel to be imported and then cut-down. In such cases, quotas are being designed with the aim of allowing for sufficient imports.