Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce, refine and replace the use of animals in research.

In 2010, the coalition government made a commitment to work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research and a delivery plan has been published. The plan shows how alternative methods can deliver fast, high-quality research that
also boosts economic growth.

Since the Plan was published, a wealth of significant new research and knowledge dissemination on the 3Rs - Replacement, Refinement and Reduction - has been completed. It includes the launch of the first products from the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) open innovation programme CRACK IT, a £4 million
competition run by Innovate UK and the NC3Rs to fund the commercialisation of non-animal technologies.

There is also the publication of important new studies on veterinary and human vaccine testing by Defra and Public Health England which have identified scope to reduce the numbers of animals used in developing vaccines. New joint working by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Home Office has additionally produced refined testing models to reduce animal
suffering.

We have taken major steps to encourage greater international adoption of 3Rs techniques, including a ground-breaking programme of knowledge-sharing with regulators and life science associations in China led by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit. In addition, we have published collaborative research across the global life sciences sector led by the NC3Rs and the UK’s Medicines and
Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to minimise the use of recovery animals in pharmaceutical development.