Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the use of generic service licences for animal experiments, granted without identification of the specific substance to be tested, and what steps she is taking to ensure that a robust harm-benefit analysis is undertaken before such licences are authorised.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
All project licence applications for the use of animals in scientific procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, including service licences, are reviewed by trained Home Office inspectors prior to being authorised. Licences may only be granted where there are no suitable alternatives to animal use and where the likely harms to animals are justified by the expected benefits, as determined through a harm-benefit analysis.
Regulatory studies under service licences use standardised methods to generate evidence required to support the safe development and use of medicines and other products, meaning the benefits of the work are clearly defined in advance. Where the specific substances are not all known at the point of licence application, applicants provide information on the overall categories of substances to be tested. Inspectors consider the scientific purpose of the proposed studies and the regulatory questions they are intended to address, enabling a robust harm-benefit analysis.
The Animals in Science Committee recently conducted a review of service licences using non-human primates, and the Government responded to these recommendations in June. The Committee will continue to undertake licence reviews to strengthen protections for animals in science. The themes for future reviews will be determined in due course.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has analysed international examples of requiring intervening Intelligent Speed Assistance technology for high-risk and repeat speeding offenders.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not undertaken specific analysis of international approaches to require intervening Intelligent Speed Assistance technology for high‑risk or repeat speeding offenders. The Government keeps the motoring offences framework under review, but does not currently have any plans to introduce Intelligent Speed Assistance for those convicted of speeding offences. The Department will continue to consider emerging evidence on technologies to improve road safety.
The Department does not have a specific national definition of a high-risk repeat speeding offender. Sentencing in individual speeding cases is a matter for the courts, which assess the seriousness of the offence by reference to the speed recorded against the applicable speed limit and any relevant aggravating factors, including previous convictions.
The Department has not commissioned bespoke data from police forces specifically on repeat speeding offenders to inform policy development. Data on motoring offences, including speeding, is published annually by the Home Office in its “Police powers and procedures: Roads policing” statistical release.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has asked police forces to provide data on repeat speeding offenders to inform future road safety policy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not undertaken specific analysis of international approaches to require intervening Intelligent Speed Assistance technology for high‑risk or repeat speeding offenders. The Government keeps the motoring offences framework under review, but does not currently have any plans to introduce Intelligent Speed Assistance for those convicted of speeding offences. The Department will continue to consider emerging evidence on technologies to improve road safety.
The Department does not have a specific national definition of a high-risk repeat speeding offender. Sentencing in individual speeding cases is a matter for the courts, which assess the seriousness of the offence by reference to the speed recorded against the applicable speed limit and any relevant aggravating factors, including previous convictions.
The Department has not commissioned bespoke data from police forces specifically on repeat speeding offenders to inform policy development. Data on motoring offences, including speeding, is published annually by the Home Office in its “Police powers and procedures: Roads policing” statistical release.