Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that medical research involving the use of animals is only being undertaken where there is no alternative.

The Government considers that the carefully regulated use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving the understanding of how biological systems work both in health and disease, and in the development of safe new medicines, treatments and technologies.

At the same time, the Government believes that animals should only be used when there is no viable alternative. The Government actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), and supports ongoing UK-led efforts to encourage greater global uptake of non-animal alternatives.