§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much of the Medical Research Council's £54.4 million funding for 1977–78 was spent specifically on developing and finding alternative techniques to replace the use of living animals in research, and with what result.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsIn the view of the council, a specific research project would not be helpful because alternative techniques can be developed by scientists only in the course of research on their own problems. With the council's strong encouragement, such techniques are used increasingly widely in the research it supports.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much of the £900,000 budget of the Medical Research Council's toxicology unit at Carshalton was spent on toxicity research involving experiments on living animals in 1977–78.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe information is not readily available, but I will arrange for it to be circulated in theOfficial Report when it has been obtained.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many live animals, listed by species, were used by the Medical Research Council for alcohol research during 1976, 1977 and 1978.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThis question cannot be answered without disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many persons who received grants from the Medical Research Council between April 1977 and March 1978 were licensed to perform experiments on living animals;
(2) whether she will list those laboratories licensed to perform experiments on 665W living animals which received grants from the Medical Research Council in each of the last three financial years;
(3) how many living animals, listed by species, were used in research projects run or financed by the Medical Research Council and performed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1976 during 1976, 1977 and 1978;
(4) how many living animals were addicted to drugs in any research projects run or financed by the Medical Research Council in 1976, 1977 and 1978; and which drugs were used in these experiments, and which species of animals and in what numbers by species.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsI am afraid information is not kept in a form that allows me to answer these questions. I am writing to my hon. Friend.
Full-time and sandwich students in 1978–79 Estimated (000s) Projected At GB universities … … 289 285 At non-university institutions in England and Wales … … 191 199 of which at polytechnics … … 112 at other establishments … … 79 The estimates, which are based on counts made in mid-October 1978, include 6,000 overseas students in universities and 3,000 in advanced further education above the levels allowed for in the projections shown (which underlie the figures for 1978–79 published in Cmnd. 7439).