Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the legal requirement to use non-animal methods where possible is being enforced in the licensing of animal experiments.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office ensures all licences are fully compliant with all sections of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).
The responsibility of ensuring the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) have been fully applied in applications belongs to the applicant. The role of the Home Office is to assure that the applicant has conducted extensive checks for each of the 3Rs and that they are maximally applied.
Home Office Inspectors are specifically trained to assess licences rigorously and robustly and thereby assure compliance with the ASPA. The training package for Inspectors has been enhanced with a greater emphasis on replacement methodologies.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will end the issuing of licences for experiments involving (a) dogs, (b) cats and (c) non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy later this year. However, in limited circumstances where there is no non-animal alternative, procedures are required to deliver benefits to people, animals or the environment. In the most recent available statistics from 2023, less than 1 percent of all procedures were carried out on dogs, cats and non-human primates.
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides a robust and rigorous regulatory framework that protects animals used in science. It requires that the principles of the 3Rs - replacement, reduction and refinement - are followed so that animals are only used where there are no alternatives, the minimum number of animals are used, and the most refined procedures for using animals are employed to minimise harm.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of allowing the practice of carrying chickens by their legs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 resolved a discrepancy by bringing the legislation in-line with long-standing statutory guidance. The regulations reinforce the guidance that one-leg catching is unacceptable, by specifically prohibiting one-leg catching, and allow for two-leg catching of laying hens, meat chickens, and turkeys weighing 5kg or less. This does not lower animal welfare standards in practice as the GB poultry industries catch chickens by the legs and not upright by the body.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all bereaved parents who need specialist psychological support following (a) pregnancy and (b) baby loss can access it (i) at any time and (ii) free of charge through the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Experiencing pregnancy or baby loss can be extremely difficult and traumatic. We are determined to make sure all bereaved parents, regardless of where they live, have access to specialist psychological support, free of charge through the National Health Service.
Following the loss of a baby, all parents should receive timely, equitable, and culturally competent care. To support this, NHS England has provided funding to all integrated care boards to establish seven-day-a-week bereavement services across maternity settings in England, so that support is always available when families need it most. Currently, 38 out of 42 integrated care boards offer a seven day a week bereavement service, with coverage in 115 out of 120 trusts.
Every trust in England has signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway. This pathway is designed to improve the quality and consistency of bereavement care for parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss. NHS England is working closely with Sands to agree what steps are necessary to support faster and more consistent implementation of the pathway so that all parents, no matter where they are, receive the support they need at such a difficult time.
As of July 2025, maternal mental health services are now available in all areas of England. These services provide specialist psychological support for women with moderate/severe or complex mental health difficulties arising from birth trauma or baby loss. More mothers than ever before, including those sadly affected by the loss of their baby or child, were able to access maternal mental health services or specialist community perinatal mental health services in the year to April 2025.
Fathers and partners can receive evidence-based assessments and support through specialist perinatal mental health services, and some NHS trusts also work with Home Start UK’s Dad Matters project to support paternal mental health. Where mothers and partners may have a need for mental health support, but it is not a moderate or severe mental health condition, it is important they can be signposted to other forms of support through their general practitioner and NHS Talking Therapies.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered introducing legislation to adopt a composite no gain, no loss framework to align the tax treatment of crypto-asset lending and staking with traditional financial instruments; and what progress HMRC has made on its consultation on the taxation of decentralised finance transactions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has engaged in detail with industry on the tax treatment for the lending and staking of cryptoassets, following the previous consultation on this issue. The government will be responding to the industry in due course.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the revised Carbon Budget Delivery Plan on the international commitment to cut carbon emissions by over two-thirds by 2030.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are delivering an updated plan that sets out the policy package out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all sectors of the economy. This will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver Carbon Budgets 4-6 and our international commitments on a pathway to net zero.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a national chemicals regulator.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency between them regulate the UK’s chemicals regimes.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bring forward proposals to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004 by (a) removing exemptions, (b) introducing custodial sentences for illegal hunting and (c) banning trail hunting.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a full ban will be held early next year.
The nature of trail hunting makes it very difficult to do safely. The use of large packs of hounds reduces the control huntsmen have, putting wild mammals, household pets and even members of the public at risk.
Trail hunting also provides a convenient cover for those seeking to participate in illegal hunting activities by obscuring their intention and enabling the inevitable chasing of animals to be labelled as ‘accidental’. This is why we want an effective, enforceable ban that truly protects our wildlife, countryside, and rural communities.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward a public consultation on (a) banning the use of cages and (b) close confinement systems for farmed animals; and if she will make it her policy to phase out those practices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Belém Action Mechanism.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are committed to working with all Parties to secure outcomes across the COP30 negotiations, including on just transitions, which are a critical opportunity to ensure that workers and communities benefit from the economic transition to net zero. Ahead of COP30 we are considering a range of proposals, including those related to just transitions.