Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason service licences issued by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit do not require information on the exact substance that is being tested in the tests they authorise.

Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), project licences for regulatory testing may authorise a defined programme of standardised studies where the scientific purpose and regulatory question are clear even if the individual substance to be tested is not identified at the point the licence is granted. This reflects the nature of regulatory testing, where established methods are applied across multiple substances to generate data required to assess safety and meet statutory or regulatory requirements.

Licences are considered on a case-by-case basis by trained Home Office Inspectors and are granted only where the legal requirements of ASPA are met, including a harm-benefit analysis and full application of the principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (the 3Rs). The authorised work must remain within the scope, severity limits and conditions of the licence, and is subject to ongoing oversight by the Home Office regulator and review by local Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Bodies.

The Government is also taking forward the Replacing animals in science strategy, published in November 2025. This contains commitments to accelerate the development and regulatory acceptance of non-animal alternatives, including the creation of a UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM).