Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Statutory Instrument, The Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025, on her Department's plans to phase out animal testing.

The Statutory Instrument to amend the Public Order Act 2023 does not alter the Government’s commitment to phasing out animal testing or maintaining high standards of animal welfare. All establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) will remain subject to its full requirements. ASPA provides a robust regulatory framework that protects animals in science, including compliance checks and audits by the Home Office.

It is anticipated that amendments to the Public Order Act can help to safeguard animal welfare through enabling scientific establishments to continue their operations in compliance with ASPA without disruptions which could put at risk their activity to protect animals.

The Animals in Science Regulation Unit conducts announced and unannounced audits to ensure establishments comply with licence conditions, the Code of Practice, and ASPA. The Home Office has published guidance on administering and enforcing ASPA, alongside a Code of Practice that sets standards for the care and accommodation of animals used for scientific purposes.

The UK’s legal framework already requires that animals are only used in science where no validated alternatives exist. The Government is accelerating efforts to develop and adopt these alternatives. In November 2025 the Government published a strategy setting out a long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated except in exceptional circumstances, by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods.