HL Deb 14 May 1959 vol 216 cc444-5
LORD DOWDING

My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the workers engaged in scientific research at the Government's Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment at Porton are licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, to perform experiments upon living vertebrate animals; how many of the workers so licensed hold certificates A and B respectively; and how many experiments were performed under the provisions of certificate A, and how many under certificate B, at the above-mentioned Establishment in 1958.]

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

My Lords, twenty-seven workers at the Government's Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment at Porton are licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, to perform experiments on living vertebrate animals. All 27 of these workers hold Certificate A, and 11 of them also hold Certificate B. The number of experiments under these certificates at the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment in 1958 was less than 1 per cent. of the total for the country as a whole.

LORD DOWDING

Is it possible to give a number?

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

Yes, my Lords, I can give a number if the noble Lord wishes it—he will realise that it covers a great many different sorts of animals. The number is of the order of 16,000.