Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps her Department is taking to help ensure the effective implementation of the Beating Crime Plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Beating Crime Plan sets out the Government’s blueprint for cutting crime, protecting the public and increasing confidence in the Criminal Justice System.
Since its publication, we have been working with partners across government, policing and other law enforcement agencies to deliver the commitments we have made to the public.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to include housing availability in the development of immigration policy.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes Impact Assessments which analyse the impacts of migration policy changes, including quantified and unquantified costs and benefits.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans for her Department's policy to only allow non-human primates who are the offspring of those bred in captivity or who are sourced from self-sustaining colonies that do not trap monkeys in the wild to be used in scientific research in line with the EU policy due to be implemented in 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The requirement of EU Directive 2010/63/EU that non-human primates cannot be sourced from the wild for breeding within a self-sustaining colony is already implemented for Marmosets, as stated in the UK legislation.
The UK legislation presently requires that all non-human primates used in research are bred specifically for research, so wild caught animals cannot not be used for procedures.
Establishments that have a licence to breed other primate species must have a strategy in place to increase the proportion of primates bred from primates bred in captivity.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest interval was between visits made by officials of her Department to any establishment designated as breeding, supplying or using animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Home Office Regulator inspects all establishments at a frequency that is fully compliant with the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986). The Regulator aims to inspect all establishments at least once a year. The Regulator also undertakes a governance review of each establishment on an annual basis.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with respect to Section 18, 2(b) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, how many and what proportion of inspection visits carried out by officials of her Department to establishments designated as breeding, supplying or using animals during (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019 were without notice; and whether she has plans to increase those type of inspection visits.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Inspections are conducted by the Home Office in accordance with the requirements of ASPA and according to risk. In 2017, 59% of inspection visits were unannounced, 2018 63% and 2019 36%. Full details are published in the Regulator’s annual reports available at: Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Home Office inspects establishments at a frequency that is compliant with the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986). Both announced and unannounced inspections are undertaken, depending on the regulatory outcomes required. No plans have been made to change the frequency of unannounced visits.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's long-term strategy is for phasing out the use of animals in scientific procedures as non-animal technologies are further developed; and if she will publish that strategy.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is too soon to impose a timetable on phasing out the use of animals of animals in those areas of scientific enquiry that are delivering benefits to people, animals and the environment.
The UK’s rigorous regulatory system requires that no animal testing takes place if there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. Prior to any work being authorised, project licence proposals for research on animals for which there is no non-animal alternative must comply fully with the principles of the 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking towards the full replacement of procedures on live animals for scientific and educational purposes.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This Government is committed to maintaining high standards of animal welfare where procedures are undertaken on live animals for scientific or educational purposes. It champions the work of the National Centre for the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) in supporting the research community to develop and use science and technology in the creation of new approaches to replace studies that require animals.
Central to any decision to use animals in research is the need for robust scientific evidence to justify the use of animals. The UK’s rigorous regulatory system requires that no testing takes place if there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. Project licence proposals for research on animals for which there is no non-animal alternative must comply fully with the principles of the 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement.