§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of inspectors: (a) appointed and (b) in post in each of the last five years under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 to visit premises carrying out experiments using live animals; how many inspections were carried out in each of the last five years; and what is the average period between inspections.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe following table gives the information requested in the first three parts of the Question:
Year Number of Inspectors appointed Number of Inspectors* in post at 31st December Number of of visits to registered places 1972 — 13 4,052 1973 2 15† 4,181 1974 — 14 4,284 1975 2 16† 5,095 1976 1 14 5,861 * Including one Chief Inspector and two Superintending Inspectors. † Including Inspectors about to retire. The frequency of inspections varies considerably according to circumstances and the nature of the registered place, so that the average figure for all such places would not be a meaningful guide to the inspectors' practice.