Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her planned strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of non-animal methods will contain a timeline to phase out animal experimentation.

The Government is committed to reducing the use of animals in scientific research and is developing a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods.

At present, the strategy does not include a fixed timeline for the complete phase-out of animal experimentation but it does commit to timelines for some. It is not yet possible to replace all animal research due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners, so we will not be setting arbitrary timelines for reducing their use.