Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to set a timeline for phasing out the use of the forced swim test in their strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of non-animal methods.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As of March 2024, the Home Office no longer grants project licences for use of the FST as a model of depression. This position is in line with recommendations from a report on the Forced Swim Test by the independent Animals in Science Committee ASC),
The Home Office Regulator has reviewed all licences authorising the use of the Forced Swim Test (FST) under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The number of project licences that authorises the FST in Great Britain has decreased from nine to a current total of only three licences. All of these licences are due to expire by 2028.
Taking into account the ASC’s recommendations, the FST does potentially have some use in narrowly defined research contexts where there are no non-animal alternatives currently available: screening for antidepressant efficacy and studying the neurobiology of stress. The Home Office will only authorise testing in these specific circumstances and where there is robust, legitimate scientific justification.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2024, published on 23 October, which included 250 procedures reported as the forced swim test, what steps they are taking to end the use of this test.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As of March 2024, the Home Office no longer grants project licences for use of the FST as a model of depression. This position is in line with recommendations from a report on the Forced Swim Test by the independent Animals in Science Committee ASC),
The Home Office Regulator has reviewed all licences authorising the use of the Forced Swim Test (FST) under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The number of project licences that authorises the FST in Great Britain has decreased from nine to a current total of only three licences. All of these licences are due to expire by 2028.
Taking into account the ASC’s recommendations, the FST does potentially have some use in narrowly defined research contexts where there are no non-animal alternatives currently available: screening for antidepressant efficacy and studying the neurobiology of stress. The Home Office will only authorise testing in these specific circumstances and where there is robust, legitimate scientific justification.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers have arrived illegally in the UK by small boats since 5 July; and what is the breakdown of those arrivals by (1) nationality, (2) gender, and (3) age.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes daily small boat arrival figures in the ‘Small boat activity in the English Channel’ transparency release on gov.uk; however, this includes all small boat arrivals, not just those who have claimed asylum.
The Home Office also publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals, by nationality, sex, and age, is published in table Irr_D02 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of June 2024. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals for July to September 2024 will be published in November 2024.