Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the strategy Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025 and the target to replace animals used for eye irritation testing, how many procedures were carried out for this purpose in 2024.

The Home Office is committed to supporting the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to animal testing, as outlined in the published strategy: Replacing animals in science’, published on 11 November 2025.

The last licence authorising the use of the rabbit pyrogen test was granted in 2017. The most recent reported use of the test was in 2018. No pyrogen testing has been reported since this date.

The latest published statistics show that no procedures were reported under the category of ‘skin irritation/corrosion’ tests.

In 2024, three procedures were reported under the category of ‘eye irritation/corrosion’ tests.

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in scientific procedures. The statistics can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics