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 encourage (a) innovation and (b) an increase in the use of drug-testing methods that do not involve animals.

Government’s approach is to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), primarily through funding from UK Research and Innovation for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) - who have committed £31.6 million for research and innovation into these causes in the past 5 years - and to ensure that the UK has a robust regulatory system for licensing animal studies.

The NC3Rs are on track to meet their commitment to invest 75% of their research and innovation budget on replacement technologies by the end of 2024.