§ 39. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Minister of Health what payment from public grants is made for experiments on living animals at the present time; and whether it is proposed to continue these grants?
§ Mr. WHEATLEYAs the answer is necessarily somewhat long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the answer:
§ Animal experiments are a necessary part of the research work done by or for several Government Departments. No separate provision for such experiments is made in the expenditure from public funds and it is impossible to analyse the expenditure on research in such a manner as to isolate the expenditure involved in this particular class of experiment. Annual Returns furnished to Parliament by the Home Office give the names of persons licensed by the Home Secretary to perform these experiments, together with the number of animal experiments performed and a list of the laboratories approved and registered for the purpose. In reply to the second half of the question, I do not see any ground, in the present state of scientific knowledge, for discontinuing expenditure from public funds on such experiments.