Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of transparency arrangements relating to licensed establishments under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, including the publication of information on animal use, welfare outcomes and inspection findings.

The Government is committed to transparency in the regulation of animals in science and keeps the relevant arrangements under review. A substantial amount of information is already published, including annual statistics on scientific procedures involving protected animals, non-technical summaries of licensed projects, retrospective assessments of relevant projects, and the Regulator’s annual reports. The annual reports include information on audit activity, including the number and types of audits undertaken, as well as summaries of all cases of non-compliance, the number of animals involved, and the regulatory action taken. The Government also publishes Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to explain how it administers and enforces the law and a Code of Practice that sets out care and accommodation requirements of animals under ASPA. The Regulator also publishes all technical advice notes.

The Home Office has committed to restarting the collection of additional statistics on animals used in science. Annual publication is planned from 2028, using data collected during 2027.

In May 2026, the Government accepted recommendations from the Animals in Science Committee on improving the transparency and clarity of non-technical summaries and retrospective assessments. The response, and delivery plan for taking this work forward, are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-technical-summaries-and-retrospective-assessments-response-from-lord-hanson.