Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to accelerate the transition to animal-free (a) research and (b) testing methodology.

This Government will soon publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. It will set out how we can build on our support by creating a research and innovation system that replaces animal testing with alternative methods wherever possible.

The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA) does not allow testing on animals where there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. Section 20B of the ASPA already requires the development and validation of alternative strategies.

The Government already invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to accelerate the development and adoption of 3Rs approaches.