Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 15 February 2023 to Question 141449 on Animal Experiments, and with reference to the Non-Animal Technologies Roadmap, what progress she has made on the establishment of a strategic advisory board; and whether she plans to update the Roadmap regularly.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies.
The recommendations in the Non-Animal Technologies Roadmap continue to be delivered including a £1.6 million commitment for the development of a virtual dog to help reduce the use of dogs in the safety testing of new medicines and £4.7 million funding for next generation non-animal technologies that provide reliable, predictive and cost-effective alternatives to the use of animals. Scientists and representatives from regulatory bodies are involved in these efforts to accelerate the use of non-animal technologies.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 15 February 2023 to question 141449 on Animal Experiments, what steps she has taken to engage with regulators on the development of non-animal technologies.
Answered by George Freeman
In addition to this Department, the use of animals in science touches on a number of other departmental responsibilities, including the Home Office who administer and enforce The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Officials within these departments continue to work together to support the delivery of important scientific research, including through the development of non-animal technologies, and the protection of animals.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the US Department of Commerce adding BGI Tech Solutions (Hong Kong) to its export blacklist, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of this company being awarded contracts by UK universities on national security; and whether her Department has provided guidance to universities with research partnerships with organisations deemed by the UK's allies to pose a significant threat to (a) national security and (b) human rights.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to supporting UK businesses and academia to engage with any and all international collaborations that includes BGI in a way that reflects the UK’s values and takes account of national security concerns. We proactively engage with business and academia to make them aware of national security risks, including through the RCAT programme which supports universities with risk assessment.
The Government supports the academic sector to make informed decisions on international research collaboration through the Trusted Research campaign and supported Universities UK to develop guidelines, published in October 2020, to help universities tackle security risks related to international collaboration.
As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, which is due for publication in the coming months, the Government is currently undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, shape global norms and standards, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State on BGI Group in the debate on Genomics and National Security on 8 March 2023, Official Report, column 120WH, whether he plans to provide guidance to (a) business and (b) universities that have formed research partnerships with BGI Group on the potential risks of working with that company.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to supporting UK businesses and academia to engage with any and all international collaborations that includes BGI in a way that reflects the UK’s values and takes account of national security concerns. We proactively engage with business and academia to make them aware of national security risks, including through the RCAT programme which supports universities with risk assessment.
The Government supports the academic sector to make informed decisions on international research collaboration through the Trusted Research campaign and supported Universities UK to develop guidelines, published in October 2020, to help universities tackle security risks related to international collaboration.
As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, which is due for publication in the coming months, the government is currently undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, shape global norms and standards, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for research into technology to replace the use of animals in research and testing.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support innovation in developing new non-animal technologies and approaches in science.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies.
The NC3Rs, UKRI and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory have developed a Non-Animal Technologies Roadmap setting out a 2030 vision and strategy for how non-animal technologies could be used to replace the use of animals in research across a number of sectors. The NC3Rs also has set out its strategy to increase the focus on animal replacement technologies.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential for increasing the (a) development and (b) use of alternatives to experiments on animals.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the use of non-animal (a) technologies and (b) approaches in scientific research.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.