Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the legal requirement to use non-animal methods where possible is being enforced in the licensing of animal experiments.

The Home Office ensures all licences are fully compliant with all sections of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).

The responsibility of ensuring the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) have been fully applied in applications belongs to the applicant. The role of the Home Office is to assure that the applicant has conducted extensive checks for each of the 3Rs and that they are maximally applied.

Home Office Inspectors are specifically trained to assess licences rigorously and robustly and thereby assure compliance with the ASPA. The training package for Inspectors has been enhanced with a greater emphasis on replacement methodologies.