Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, by when she plans to publish areas of research interest for alternative methods.

UKRI is leading the commitment to publish Areas of Research Interest for alternative methods.

The strategy commits to initiating this work in the first half of 2026, with discussions now happening between the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to agree the approach.

The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.