§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it is his Department's policy to apply regulation 2(2) (a) of the Environmental Information Regulations 1992 in relation to the state of any flora or fauna in the definition of the environment to animals held in captivity for scientific purposes.
§ Mr. AtkinsWhere information falls within the scope of the regulations my Department's policy is to make it available unless there are good reasons, related to the regulations, for not doing so.
Whether information about animals held in captivity for scientific purposes is environmental information is a mixed question of fact and law which would need to be determined on a case by case basis.