Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2025, published in July 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the 2.54 million scientific procedures involving living animals which were carried out in Great Britain in 2025.

The 2025 figure of 2.54 million represents a decrease from 2.64 million procedures in 2024 and is the lowest number recorded under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).

The Government remains committed to reducing and replacing the use of animals in science. The statutory principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement require animals to be used only where there is no scientifically satisfactory alternative, in the minimum numbers necessary, and with procedures refined to minimise suffering.

In November 2025, DSIT published its Replacing Animals in Science strategy, backed by £75 million, to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. The 2025 statistics do not alter that policy approach. Where scientifically satisfactory alternatives are not yet available, carefully regulated animal use may continue where necessary to protect human and animal health and the environment.