Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department operates a single database to record (a) the number of offenders serving standard determinate sentences, (b) their offence category and (c) their release dates.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department holds information on offenders' offences, sentences and release dates within the Digital Prison Services (DPS) platform and the legacy offender case management system, NOMIS. This information is not held in a single database but these systems combine information from many databases to address operational, reporting and analytical requirements
The current authoritative system of record, with synchronised data, remains the National Offender Management Information System (NOMIS).
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what resources have been allocated to the planned phased approach to policy development on decapods, including the number of full-time equivalent staff involved, dedicated budget, external expertise commissioned and any other support.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has written to the Animals in Science Committee setting out its phased approach to developing proportionate and evidence-based arrangements for decapods used in scientific procedures. As part of this approach, the Home Office is developing a roadmap setting out objectives and key milestones to enable the development of the evidence base needed to inform future policy decisions. The Home Office will publish further information on its approach to regulating decapods used in science in due course.
The initial phase of this work focuses on the adoption of industry-led welfare standards, supported by voluntary reporting, targeted training and preparatory work. Further steps may include seeking technical advice and engaging relevant experts where appropriate.
This activity is being undertaken using existing resources and budget. As of July 2026, the Animals in Science Regulation Policy Unit has 8.6 full-time equivalent staff who support a range of priorities including policy development for decapods. The Unit collaborates with a range of other government teams to progress project activity. Resourcing arrangements will be kept under review as the policy develops.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish a roadmap for the phased approach to policy development on decapods used in scientific procedures.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has written to the Animals in Science Committee setting out its phased approach to developing proportionate and evidence-based arrangements for decapods used in scientific procedures. As part of this approach, the Home Office is developing a roadmap setting out objectives and key milestones to enable the development of the evidence base needed to inform future policy decisions. The Home Office will publish further information on its approach to regulating decapods used in science in due course.
The initial phase of this work focuses on the adoption of industry-led welfare standards, supported by voluntary reporting, targeted training and preparatory work. Further steps may include seeking technical advice and engaging relevant experts where appropriate.
This activity is being undertaken using existing resources and budget. As of July 2026, the Animals in Science Regulation Policy Unit has 8.6 full-time equivalent staff who support a range of priorities including policy development for decapods. The Unit collaborates with a range of other government teams to progress project activity. Resourcing arrangements will be kept under review as the policy develops.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2025, published in July 2026, what assessment she has made of the reduction in procedures reported as severe in 2025; and what measures she is taking to secure further future reductions.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government welcomes the reduction in experimental procedures reported as severe in the 2025 published annual statistics. The proportion fell from 3.4% in 2024 to 1.3% in 2025, with the number of severe procedures decreasing from 48,380 to 17,593. Procedure numbers may increase or decrease from year to year due to changes in scientific and public health priorities, scientific innovation, research funding, regulatory requirements, and the application of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement).
The majority of this change was a large decrease seen in batch potency testing, falling from 27,323 severe procedures in 2024 to 521 in 2025. Batch potency testing is a form of quality control testing used to confirm that a batch of a medicine, vaccine or other biological product meets required standards before it is released for use.
All applications to test on animals must conform with all legal requirements set out in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). This includes applying the principles of the 3Rs: the replacement of animals wherever there is a suitable alternative available; the reduction of the number of animals used to the minimum possible; and the refinement of any techniques to reduce the harm suffered by the animals to the minimum.
Under ASPA, licences are subject to retrospective assessments if they involved procedures expected to cause severe harm to animals. These retrospective assessments must consider whether any lessons can be learned from the programme of work which may contribute to the further implementation of the principles of the 3Rs.
The Government’s Replacing animals in science strategy, published in November 2025 and backed by £75 million, contains measures to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. These measures, together with continuing regulatory scrutiny and independent advice from the Animals in Science Committee, will support further replacement and refinement of animal procedures.