Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, pursuant to the non-technical summaries of project licences granted Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 between January and March, what assessment they have made of the deliberate induction of pain on primates using methods such as heat, high intensity electrical stimulation or the injection of small amounts of high-strength salt solution; and what steps they plan to take to prohibit the use of such practices.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The legal framework in the UK is set up to ensure that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
Any application must take into account the replacement of animals with alternatives, the reduction of the number of animals used to the minimum possible and the refinement of any techniques to reduce the harm suffered by the animals to the minimum (known as the 3Rs). All project licence applications are reviewed by the Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit to ensure that any harm that may be caused to the animals is justified by the expected benefits for humans, animals or the environment. The Home Office only allows the use of animals if it can be demonstrated that the benefits outweigh the harms and the 3Rs have been fully applied. All licence holders have a responsibility to fully implement the 3Rs and demonstrate this requirement at audit.
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is engaging with stakeholders to finalise a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, pursuant to the non-technical summaries of project licences granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 between January and March, what assessment they have made of the restriction of primates' access to food in order to induce them to perform behavioural tasks.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The legal framework in the UK is set up to ensure that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
Any application must take into account the replacement of animals with alternatives, the reduction of the number of animals used to the minimum possible and the refinement of any techniques to reduce the harm suffered by the animals to the minimum (known as the 3Rs). All project licence applications are reviewed by the Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit to ensure that any harm that may be caused to the animals is justified by the expected benefits for humans, animals or the environment. The Home Office only allows the use of animals if it can be demonstrated that the benefits outweigh the harms and the 3Rs have been fully applied. All licence holders have a responsibility to fully implement the 3Rs and demonstrate this requirement at audit.
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is engaging with stakeholders to finalise a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many project licences for animal testing have been approved in the last five years; and what proportion of those included conditions requiring the use of New Approach Methodologies where available.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 does not allow testing on animals where there is a validated non-animal alternative available that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought.
The number of project licences granted are published in the Regulator’s Annual Report, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports. The numbers for 2020 to 2023 are below. The Annual Report for 2024 will be published later this year.
Year | Number of project licences granted |
2020 | 478 |
2021 | 497 |
2022 | 490 |
2023 | 460 |
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many scientific procedures involved the use of dogs from 2020- 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The number of animals used in scientific research and testing, including dogs, is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit#statistics. Statistics for 2024 are scheduled for publication in July.
The Home Office assures that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals are reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the result sought, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering.
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is leading on a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many licences for the use of animals for scientific purposes were granted (a) in 2023-24 and (b) since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The number of licences granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act for the use of animals in scientific procedures is published in the Regulator’s Annual Report.
The Report for 2023 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports.
During 2023, 460 new project licences were granted. The Report for 2024 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with (a) animal welfare activists and (b) Marshall Bio Resources on the mass rearing of beagles for the purpose of animal testing.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) with the Home Office and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs involvement is leading on a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
Pharmaceutical legislation requires that, before a medicine can be approved for testing in humans, it is tested in a rodent and non-rodent species under international guidelines. This may include dogs as an appropriate model. The majority of Beagles bred for use in science (85%) are for the purposes of regulatory testing under legislation on pharmaceutical products for human use. The number of Beagles bred is largely determined by the forecast needs of the pharmaceutical industry that require testing of medicines.
The Home Office regulator ensures compliance of all work licensed with the rigorous requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. The number of animals used in scientific research and testing, including Beagles, is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit#statistics.
The Home Office assures that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals are reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the result sought, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he could publish the full list of sites that could be inspected by the Animals in Science Regulations Unit; on what dates did (a) announced and (b) unannounced audits by the Unit take place at those locations; and what was the outcome of each of the inspections.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Animals in Science Regulation Unit publishes an Annual Report containing information on the number of licensed establishments, the number and type of audits that have been conducted and a summary of audit outcomes. The Annual Report also publishes information on all cases of non-compliance, including the number of animals involved and the actions taken by the Regulator.
The Home Office has published Guidance on how it administers and enforces ASPA and a Code of Practice which provides appropriate standards for the care and accommodation of animals used for scientific purposes. Assessment of compliance includes ensuring adherence to this Code of Practice. Each establishment that holds specially protected species will be audited at least once every year. All other establishments will receive an audit at least every three years.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) inspectors were responsible for assessing project licence applications and (b) project licence applications were approved for licences to use animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The number of staff that are employed to process and issue project licences in the Home Office Regulator, under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, are published in the Regulator's annual report accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports.
In 2024, the Regulator had 12 Inspectors and 472 project licence applications were approved.
The Regulator is currently undertaking a structured programme of reforms. This will increase the total number of Inspectors to 22 by end of 2025. The Regulator will then operate a flexibly resourced licensing function and allocate resource according to demand.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35843 on Marshall Bioresources: Audit, what the outcome was of the unannounced audit by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit of Marshall BioResources in April 2024.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The outcome of the last unannounced audit carried out in April 2024 was that there were no critical, major or minor findings, and no low-level concerns identified.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35843 on Marshall Bioresources: Audit, on what dates did (a) announced and (b) unannounced audits by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit of Marshall BioResources take place between 2016 and 2025 inclusive.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Marshall BioResources was granted an establishment licence in October 2017. Since then, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit have conducted 8 announced inspections/audits and 7 unannounced as set out below.
Announced | Unannounced |
2021 September | 2024 April |
2020 November | 2023 August |
2020 September | 2022 July |
2019 November | 2021 June |
2019 May | 2019 July |
2019 March | 2018 July |
2018 October | 2018 January |
2018 April |
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