Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider introducing temperature regulations for the housing of animals in (a) testing and (b) vivisection breeding facilities, including the establishment of maximum and minimum temperature thresholds.

The Government does not currently plan to introduce statutory maximum and minimum temperature ranges for each species housed in establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

The statutory Code of Practice requires establishments to maintain conditions that protect the welfare of animals in their care. This allows environmental conditions to be appropriate to variable requirements within a species, for example according to factors such as age, health, housing, acclimatisation and the nature of the procedures being undertaken.

Further guidance is available to establishments in the Advisory Standards, which provide suggested (non-mandatory) temperature ranges for different species, and their named persons. The regulatory framework therefore combines relevant numerical guidance with outcome-based requirements. Establishments must monitor environmental conditions and animal welfare, assess the risks arising from temperature extremes, and take prompt corrective action where necessary.

Compliance is assessed against the Act, licence conditions and the Code of Practice, including whether an establishment’s monitoring, contingency arrangements and response protect animal welfare in practice.