Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the use of generic service licences for animal experiments, granted without identification of the specific substance to be tested, and what steps she is taking to ensure that a robust harm-benefit analysis is undertaken before such licences are authorised.

All project licence applications for the use of animals in scientific procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, including service licences, are reviewed by trained Home Office inspectors prior to being authorised. Licences may only be granted where there are no suitable alternatives to animal use and where the likely harms to animals are justified by the expected benefits, as determined through a harm-benefit analysis.

Regulatory studies under service licences use standardised methods to generate evidence required to support the safe development and use of medicines and other products, meaning the benefits of the work are clearly defined in advance. Where the specific substances are not all known at the point of licence application, applicants provide information on the overall categories of substances to be tested. Inspectors consider the scientific purpose of the proposed studies and the regulatory questions they are intended to address, enabling a robust harm-benefit analysis.

The Animals in Science Committee recently conducted a review of service licences using non-human primates, and the Government responded to these recommendations in June. The Committee will continue to undertake licence reviews to strengthen protections for animals in science. The themes for future reviews will be determined in due course.