Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Animals in Science Regulation Unit is taking to encourage the replacement of the use of animals in scientific procedures.

The steps that the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) takes to encourage the replacement of the use of animals in scientific procedures are part of a wider strategy on the rigorous application of the 3Rs principles – replacement, reduction and refinement.

Procedures on animals are only authorised after an assessment process, which is undertaken by the Home Office Inspectorate. All project licence applicants are required to describe and justify why available non-animal alternative methodologies could not be used to achieve their scientific objectives.

In 2018 ASRU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) to support the uptake of 3Rs approaches. The NC3Rs leads the discovery and application of new technologies and approaches to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in scientific procedures. ASRU supports the NC3Rs drive to accelerate the development and use of models and tools, based on the latest science and technologies, to address important scientific questions without the use of animals.