Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to end unethical and unnecessary animal testing.

The Home Office regulates the use of animals in science under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). Animal testing that is unethical, unnecessary or not scientifically justified is not permitted. The use of animals is only permitted where the statutory requirements are met, where there is no validated non-animal alternative, and where the expected benefits justify the likely harms.

Every project licence application must undergo a rigorous harm-benefit analysis and scrutiny of how the principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (the 3Rs) have been applied. Applications must also undergo ethical and scientific review by local Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Bodies before submission to the Regulator. The Regulator will not progress applications where the legal requirements are not met.

The Government has a long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. The Government’s published strategy, Replacing animals in science, is backed by £75 million in funding, and contains commitments to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of non-animal alternatives, including the creation of a UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods.