May. 16 2024
Source Page: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2023Found: offences1080110801 - Experiments on living animalsSNMSummary non-motoring108b Other Cruelty to animal
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many licences were active that authorise use of the forced swim test as of 3 May 2024; and how many licences were amended to no longer authorise use of this test since the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Animals in Science Committee on 1 March 2024.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office committed to review all licences authorising the use of the forced swim test (FST) under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 by the end of March 2024 and has subsequently liaised with licence holders where necessary to implement the recommendations of the Animals in Science Committee.
Since 1 March 2024, three project licences have been amended to remove authorisation of the FST, one project licence that authorised the FST has expired, and two project licences that authorised the FST have been revoked.
As of today, three project licences authorise the use of the FST. The Home Office is engaging with the relevant licence holders to ensure the recommendations of the Animals in Science Committee are implemented in full for those licences.
Apr. 12 2024
Source Page: Non-technical summaries granted in 2024Found: In order to use these drugs in this project we have obtained all appropriate licensing and permission
Apr. 09 2024
Source Page: MHRA FOI performance dataFound: part Part information not heldFOI 23/349Are you working with any infectious agents under a Specified Animal
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to review the standard duration of licences for animal research, and (2) to introduce more challenge into the system for granting such licences, given the pace of technological change in the sector.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is going to conduct an internal review in relation to the duration of project licences for animal research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), as announced in the parliamentary debate on 19 February 2024.
The use of animals in scientific procedures is only authorised by the Home Office Regulator where there is clear scientific benefit, to people, animals, or the environment. The regulatory framework has a rigorous approach to the application of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) in all applications for programmes of work involving animals. Establishments conducting research must have robust internal governance systems and processes that ensure the regulated activities carried out at the establishment are undertaken in accordance with the principles of the 3Rs. Our application of the 3Rs principles continuously evolves with scientific developments.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to increase the fees for licences to use animals in scientific research, and (2) to seek to reduce the use of animals in such research.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has laid a Statutory Instrument in parliament to increase the fees payable for licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to come into effect on 6th April 2024.
The Government recently announced that it will double investment, from £10m to £20m per annum, in research to achieve the three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) and develop non-animal alternatives. The Government will also publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science.
The Government is committed to opportunities for reducing the use of animals in scientific research. Specifically, this Government has recently accepted the recommendations of the independent Animals in Science Committee to further restrict the use of the forced swim test and apply enhanced scrutiny to any proposal to use it in research. However, we intend to go further and have set an aim to completely eliminate its use, thus driving the development and validation of suitable alternatives (see: www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-on-the-use-of-the-forced-swim-test-letter-from-lord-sharpe/letter-from-lord-sharpe-of-epsom-responding-to-the-asc-forced-swim-test-report-accessible).
Mar. 19 2024
Source Page: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2023Found: offences1080110801 - Experiments on living animalsSNMSummary non-motoring108b Other Cruelty to animal
Mar. 19 2024
Source Page: Report launched into UK's IP-backed finance landscapeFound: They provide a means of controlling permissions to use inventions and creative works (via licensing,
Mar. 14 2024
Source Page: Freedom of Information responses from the MHRA - week commencing 27 November 2023Found: year prior to the annual renewal of the conditional marketing authorisation and b) prior to full licensing
Mar. 06 2024
Source Page: Hynet Carbon Dioxide Transportation and Storage Project - OffshoreFound: The Storage of Carbon D ioxide (Licensing etc.)