Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled, Animals in Science Regulation Annual Report (2018), for what reason there was a reduction in the number of inspections of laboratories from 966 in 2017 to 653 in 2018.

The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) undertakes a risk-based inspection and assessment programme based upon consideration of the factors specified in section 18 (2C) of the Animals Scientific Procedures Act 1986. These are:

• the compliance history of an establishment;

• any information relating to potential non-compliance;

• the number and species of animals kept; and

• the number and type of regulated procedures carried out.

The annual number of inspections therefore depends on a range of factors; the most significant of which are the size and complexity of the establishment and the type of work that is carried out there.

There is no single reason why there was a reduction in the number of inspections in 2018.