Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2025, published in July 2026, what assessment she has made of the 2.54 million scientific procedures involving living animals which were carried out in Great Britain in 2025.

The Government has a strategy to reduce the use of animals in science. The direction of travel is clear: to accelerate replacement, reduction and refinement while maintaining protections for human and animal health and the environment.

The 2.54 million scientific procedures carried out in 2025 represent a reduction of around 3.8% from 2.64 million in 2024 and the lowest annual total recorded under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Government nevertheless recognises that the figure remains significant. The aggregate total must also be understood alongside the purpose, species and severity of procedures, and the distinction between experimental procedures and the breeding of genetically altered animals.

Under the statutory principles of replacement, reduction and refinement, a scientifically satisfactory non-animal method must be used wherever possible; the number of animals must be reduced to a minimum without compromising the objectives of the programme; and methods must be refined to eliminate or reduce pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm.

In November 2025, the Government published its Replacing Animals in Science strategy, backed by £75 million, to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods and work towards replacing animal use in all but exceptional circumstances. The 2025 figures reinforce the case for sustained delivery of that strategy. Where suitable alternatives do not yet exist, well-justified and appropriately designed animal research may continue under the rigorous requirements of ASPA to protect human and animal health and the environment.