Found: 20 March 2026, Letter from Lord Hanson of Flint re: Data exchange for crime prevention and law enforcement

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 March (HL15813), how many licences they granted for the use of (1) beagles, and (2) non-human primates, in scientific procedures in 2025.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025, a total of 12 project licences were granted that included the use of beagles and/or non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986: 4 authorising the use of beagles; 4 authorising the use of non-human primates; and, 4 authorising the use of both beagles and non-human primates.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 March (HL15813), what assessment they have made of the compatibility of granting licences for the use of animals in scientific testing with their Replacing animals in science strategy, published 11 November 2025.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Replacing animals in science strategy recognises that, while the long‑term vision is to replace the use of animals in science wherever possible, some animal use remains necessary at present to develop and test new medicines, advance understanding of biology and disease, and to protect human and animal health and the environment. These activities are integral to the UK’s national health preparedness and resilience, including the ability to respond to emerging health threats. Progress towards the phasing out of animal use must be science‑led and supported by reliable alternative methods.

Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the use of animals in scientific procedures is subject to a strict regulatory framework. Project licence applications must demonstrate that the harms to animals are justified by the expected benefits to society, the environment or animals themselves. They must also comply fully with the principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (the 3Rs). This means that animals cannot be used if a suitable non‑animal method exists, the minimum number of animals must be used, and any harms must be minimised through the most refined methods available.

Accordingly, the licensing regime is compatible with the strategy; it enables only tightly controlled animal use where it is scientifically justified and no suitable alternative exists, while continuing to drive the development, validation and uptake of non-animal approaches.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 20 October 2025, what recent progress they have made in the testing of facial age estimation technology for assessing the age of asylum seekers.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

In the Government’s Immigration White Paper, published in May 2025, we committed to strengthening the age assessment process. As set out in the statement on Restoring Order and Control, the Home Office has since commissioned trials to identify the most promising scientific and technological methods. This includes exploring how artificial intelligence technology can improve the process. Early assessment suggests that Facial Age Estimation is effective and could produce workable results much quicker than other potential methods, such as bone X-rays or MRI scans, and at a fraction of the cost.

As part of our testing of Facial Age Estimation, industry algorithms have been used to test its performance against approximately 2.5 million images with a known age across different ethnicities, genders and age ranges. Further tests are planned throughout 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 6 March (HL14995), what assessment they have made of the position set out in the Written Statement by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on 7 March 2019 (HCWS1392) when considering whether the earned settlement proposals set out in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement (CP 1448), published 20 November 2025, should apply to individuals holding leave under Appendix European Communities Association Agreement.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are continuing to review and analyse the 200,000 responses received during the earned settlement consultation ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ (CP 1448), which will help inform development of the final model, including consideration of any potential exemptions or transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.

Once that is decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.

Found: Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint estimated that around 350 people would be affected by the