Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help facilitate an increase in non-animal testing methods.

The Government is committed to supporting the growth of technologies that support non-animal research. UK Research & Innovation funds the development of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs) through the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs). Since it was established the NC3Rs has invested £89.3 million in research and £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges scheme. UK law requires that animals are only used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used, and potential harm is the minimum needed to achieve scientific benefit.