Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to amend the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 so that it considers animals recognised as sentient in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act recognises cephalopods and decapods as sentient. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) was amended in 2013 to include cephalopods for protections to animals in scientific research. The Government has previously indicated that it will consider the implications of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act for ASPA to improve the welfare of animals used in science and maintain a regime of protection that enables the delivery of benefits.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for which her Department did not undertake any eye irritation tests on animals in 2021; and if she will take steps to ensure that no tests are undertaken in future.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Animal testing is only authorised where there is scientific benefit, to people, animals or the environment, and only when all aspects of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been fulfilled. This includes testing only being authorised after successful completion of a harm benefit assessment, when there are no scientifically satisfactory alternative methods and where the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) have been fully applied.
The statistics have shown a continual decline in the requirement for testing of the irritancy of substances to the eye. This decline has largely been due to the successful development and approval of non-animal methods. The Government continues to be committed to the full implementation of the 3Rs and for developing new 3Rs techniques through support to the National Centre for the 3Rs.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential economic merits of the UK becoming a global leader in the development of non-animal technologies for use in scientific research and testing.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government is clear that the use of animals in science is justified, for the benefits it brings to human, animal and environmental health and safety.
The Government is committed to assuring that those animals used in science are protected. The legal framework in the UK requires that animals are only ever used in scientific procedures where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government continues to actively support and fund alternatives to the use of animals. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) leads on developing and sharing techniques in the UK and internationally.
Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has invested £77 million in research towards developing new approaches to Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in scientific procedures, and an additional £32 million through its CRACK IT programme for SMEs and universities to work with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries on collaborative 3Rs projects that aim to generate commercial opportunities in this area.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure faster progress on the development of non-animal technologies for use in scientific research and testing; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government is clear that the use of animals in science is justified, for the benefits it brings to human, animal and environmental health and safety.
The Government is committed to assuring that those animals used in science are protected. The legal framework in the UK requires that animals are only ever used in scientific procedures where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government continues to actively support and fund alternatives to the use of animals. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) leads on developing and sharing techniques in the UK and internationally.
Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has invested £77 million in research towards developing new approaches to Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in scientific procedures, and an additional £32 million through its CRACK IT programme for SMEs and universities to work with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries on collaborative 3Rs projects that aim to generate commercial opportunities in this area.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commit to the (a) phasing out the use of animals in experiments and (b) phasing in of non-animal alternatives as soon as it is scientifically possible to do so; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government is clear that the use of animals in science is justified, for the benefits it brings to human, animal and environmental health and safety.
The Government is committed to assuring that those animals used in science are protected. The legal framework in the UK requires that animals are only ever used in scientific procedures where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government continues to actively support and fund alternatives to the use of animals. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) leads on developing and sharing techniques in the UK and internationally.
Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has invested £77 million in research towards developing new approaches to Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in scientific procedures, and an additional £32 million through its CRACK IT programme for SMEs and universities to work with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries on collaborative 3Rs projects that aim to generate commercial opportunities in this area.