Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (a) makes policy changes, (b) will lead to a diminution in levels of scrutiny of project licences, (c) will lead to a diminution in the provision of statistics and reporting with regard to information on the methods of killing specified in section 2C licences, (d) weaken advancement in the area of alternative methods by removing a requirement on the Secretary of State to identify and nominate suitable laboratories to carry out validation studies on alternative strategies and (e) result in any additional impacts on animals in laboratories compared with the legislation being amended or replaced.

The delivery of the animals in science regulatory framework will continue with the same standards of oversight, rigour and scrutiny following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 do not alter the requirement for the UK to publish annual statistics on the use of animals in science.

The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 regulations do not alter either the Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, which sets out its administration and enforcement, nor the published Code of Practice on the housing and care requirements for animals used in science. The Code of Practice will retain the requirements of Directive 2010/63/EU and any other higher standards already adopted by the UK.