Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to amend the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 so that it considers animals recognised as sentient in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act recognises cephalopods and decapods as sentient. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) was amended in 2013 to include cephalopods for protections to animals in scientific research. The Government has previously indicated that it will consider the implications of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act for ASPA to improve the welfare of animals used in science and maintain a regime of protection that enables the delivery of benefits.