Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many project licences granted under The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were amended as a result of developments in the 3Rs between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020.

For project licences granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, data are not collected on amendments that specifically relate to developments in the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement).

Standard conditions in establishment licences require that each establishment must have systems in place to ensure activities at the establishment follow the principles of the 3Rs.

Project holders are required to ensure that the regulated procedures applied as part of the programme of work specified in their licence are those which, to the greatest extent, use the minimum number of animals and only involve animals with the lowest capacity to experience pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.

Project licences do not always need to be amended before a licence holder can implement 3Rs developments.