Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ratify the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the response given to question 109027 on 5 February.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure regulators, industry, academia, civil society and NGOs can contribute on equal terms to shaping and overseeing delivery of the strategy entitled, Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government consulted regulators, industry, academia and civil society during the development of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy and will continue to do so during strategy implementation, including via the Home Office-led forums. This includes collaboration with civil society organisations with expertise in this area, including animal welfare organisations and learned societies, and other interested groups. We will also include regulators within our governance, given the importance of regulatory acceptance. Any work to phase out animal testing and regulatory procedures, must be science-led and in lock step with partners.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to track the progress of the 26 commitments, set out in the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, which will be delivered or started during 2026 and 2027 to prioritise the development and validation of alternative methods of using animals in science.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s strategy Replacing animals in science, commits to publish biennially from 2026 a list of alternative-methods research and development priorities, coalescing UK scientists around these areas and incentivising partnerships between research organisations, CROs and industry. To enable progress to be tracked against the 26 commitments set out in the strategy quarterly ministerial meetings are being held and there is a monthly reporting dashboard to ensure ministers can track progress.