Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to support the growth of the human-specific technology sector.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We look forward to the moment when technology will allow the end of all animal testing. In the meantime, we are committed to supporting the growth of technologies that support human-specific research. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (3Rs).
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for the distribution of funding previously allocated to HS2.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In October, the Prime Minister announced that the full £36bn saved from HS2 up to 2041 will be reallocated with £19.8 billion for the North, £9.6 billion for the Midlands and £6.5 billion for the rest of the country.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) his French counterpart on France's defence cooperation agreement with Southern Cyprus and use of the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base and (b) President Tatar of Northern Cyprus on a potential defence agreement between the UK and Northern Cyprus.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
While our bilateral military cooperation is strong, the Foreign Secretary has not recently discussed France's defence cooperation agreement with Cyprus with his French counterpart. In accordance with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" as an independent state. The UK recognises the Republic of Cyprus as the sovereign authority of Cyprus and has no intention of discussing a potential defence agreement with the Turkish Cypriot administration.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor and (b) restrict fur imports from European countries, in the context of outbreaks of avian flu in Europe in 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his Department's policy to authorise novel pharmaceutical products, therapies or medical devices for first-time human clinical trials by the MHRA on a case-by-case basis without relying on a standardised complement of pre-clinical animal toxicity or efficacy data; and what steps he is taking to promote the use of non-animal pre-clinical data.
Answered by Will Quince
There is no United Kingdom legislation that mandates animal testing. We do, however, work to a series of International Council of Harmonisation and Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use guidelines that describe ways to evaluate different non-clinical aspects of medicines, many of which use animals. These aspects include safety pharmacology, repeat dose toxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, phototoxicity, and immunotoxicity.
The non-clinical assessors have always taken the approach that data from a suitably validated model that has been demonstrated to be predictive could be submitted in lieu of animal data. On a case-by-case basis, a non-clinical assessor will also accept appropriate justifications for not conducting animal tests, for example, no pharmacologically relevant species.
In terms of promoting use of non-animal methods, we do not consider this to be within the remit of non-clinical assessors. Rather, it is for those using these methods to tell the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) how they have validated them, or at least why they rely on the results and an assessor will then judge whether the data is appropriate to support the trial. The MHRA supports the developers of products by its offer of scientific advice services, the Innovation Office and the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway.
The MHRA fully supports the National Centre for the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement), and agency staff play an active role in projects to support adoption and adherence to the 3Rs principles in medicines regulation worldwide.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor and (b) restrict as necessary fur imports from European countries, in the context of outbreaks of avian flu in Europe.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
While fur cannot be farmed in this country, and some fur from particular species is prohibited from import and sale, it is still possible to import and sell other types of fur from abroad. It is also possible to re-export fur and fur products that have been imported.
We have committed to explore potential action in relation to animal fur, as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, and have since conducted a Call for Evidence on the fur sector. We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade. However, currently we are not seeking to restrict fur imports based on avian influenza.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Breaching of Limits on Ticket Sales Regulations 2018 at preventing the use of automated software to purchase more tickets than the maximum permitted number.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We are committed to supporting fair and transparent ticket pricing and tackling unacceptable behaviour in this market.
We have strengthened the law in relation to ticketing information requirements and have introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than is allowed. We also support the work of enforcement agencies in this area, such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards, and the advertising industry's own regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority.
The effectiveness of any legislation is dependent on people and organisations reporting suspected breaches to the relevant enforcement agencies, and we strongly encourage anyone with evidence of suspected ticketing fraud to report it to them.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions there have been under the Breaching of Limits on Ticket Sales Regulations 2018; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is not possible to provide information about successful prosecutions under the Breaching of Limits on Ticket Sales Regulations 2018. This information is not centrally held in the Court Proceedings Database by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will introduce mandatory animal welfare labelling on supermarket products.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the potential impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK.
Based on the evidence provided, Defra is continuing to explore options for improving and expanding mandatory animal welfare labelling, covering both domestic and imported products.
Asked by: Giles Watling (Conservative - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the (a) proportion of egg production that will be cage-free by 2025 and (b) cost to the poultry sector of a ban on the use of cages for laying hens.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The proportion of eggs that come from caged hens has steadily decreased from 47% of total throughput in Q4 2017, to around 25% at the end of Q4 2022. No recent estimate of the proportion of egg production that will be cage-free by 2025 or the costs to industry of any ban on their use has been made.