Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to accelerate the phase-out of animal experimentation, and to support scientists to transition to human-specific medical research approaches.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has committed to partnering with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the requirements for phasing out of animal testing. We are engaging with the sector in taking this commitment forward.
The Government funds research through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and many programmes, such as using organoids, may lead to the development of human-specific technologies that can replace the need for the use of animals. The Government also funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research through the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs).
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to diverting public funding from animal-based research projects towards those that use human-specific research approaches.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Research and innovation involving animals is funded where no alternatives exist, in line with UK legislation. Research using animals and animal models has had significant impacts for the UK, supporting government’s healthcare missions, Net Zero, and One Health priorities. UKRI invests directly to reduce reliance on the use of animals, including ca.£10m per annum from BBSRC and MRC for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).
UKRI also supports ‘human-specific’ research, for example ca.£22.5m commitment over two years to the MRC Experimental medicine programme, a £15m call on Novel human in vitro models of complex disease with NC3Rs and Wellcome, and an £18m call for Experimental medicine to define new mechanisms of neurodegeneration. The use of human specific approaches has increased.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 24 October (HL1546), whether they discussed the marine protected area of the Chagos Islands during their negotiations with the government of Mauritius; and if so, what assurances were given.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The negotiations covered discussions on environmental protections in the Chagos Archipelago, including of the Marine Protected Area. The UK and Mauritius committed to cooperating on combatting environmental threats such as illegal fishing, with a shared objective of protecting one of the world's most important marine environments. This will include the establishment of a new Mauritian Marine Protected Area.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is fully committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before we can ratify.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to maintain the ban on sandeel fishing in UK waters as part of their negotiations with the EU.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Both the UK and Scottish Governments closed English Waters of the North Sea and all Scottish Waters to fishing for sandeel in March 2024. The closure is in place to shield sandeel as an essential food source for threatened seabird populations, commercially valuable fish and for marine mammals. The EU has raised a dispute that the UK’s decision to prohibit fishing for sandeel within UK waters is not compliant with the Trade and Cooperation agreement (TCA). The dispute proceedings are confidential therefore there is little more I can say at this time.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assurances they sought from the government of Mauritius during negotiations on the transfer of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands; and what commitments were made.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The agreement announced by the UK and Mauritius on 3 October concerning the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory / Chagos Archipelago is subject to the finalisation of a treaty. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the detail of the Treaty prior to ratification, in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Gascoigne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to improve biodiversity and nature inside the green belt.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to improving biodiversity across the country, including within the Green Belt. The Government’s intention is for Green Belts to provide multiple benefits, including nature recovery and increased public access to nature.
Local nature recovery strategies (LNRS) are being prepared across England. The LNRS statutory guidance states that if a responsible authority has Green Belt in their area, they should actively seek to target proposed actions for nature recovery inside it.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Defra are working together to improve planning policy following the consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework. This includes proposals for ‘golden rules’ for development in the Green Belt to deliver greener development which enhances nature and supports communities.
One of the Government’s key mechanisms to disincentivise harm to nature, including in the Green Belt, is biodiversity net gain, a new planning condition whereby habitats which are lost or degraded by development must be compensated for by enhancing or creating habitats that are of greater value to wildlife.