Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure cross-government coordination and policy alignment with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of non-animal methods, particularly in relation to regulatory frameworks and departmental responsibilities that rely on animal testing.

Defra is working together with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in relation to those priorities, targets and commitments in DSIT’s Strategy to Support the Development, Validation and Uptake of Alternative Methods whose implementation Defra is placed to support.