§ Mr. Speedasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has now received about his proposals to bring in new legislation relating to experiments on live animals; and what replies he has sent.
§ Mr. MellorThe Government's proposals to improve and modernise the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 were published last May in the White Paper "Scientific Procedures on Living Animals", (Cmnd. 8883). In response to our invitation for comments on the White Paper we have so far received over 3,500 letters from members of the public; universities and teaching hospitals; scientific or trade organisations; and national animal welfare organisations, anti-vivisection societies, and others. We have also received 539 letters from hon. Members. Replies have been sent to every letter. We have replied in detail to individuals and organisations with a special interest in the subject, such as those who use laboratory animals and animal welfare groups and both my right hon. and learned Friend and officials have also held numerous meetings. Detailed replies have been sent to hon. Members.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish the return of statistics of experiments on living animals for 1983.
§ Mr. MellorIt is intended to publish these statistics in the second half of July.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) formal and (b) informal warnings were issued by inspectors at each base by name to licensees found to have exceeded the authority of a licence to carry out experiments on live animals in 1983, 1980, 1979 and 1954, respectively;
423W(2) in how many instances papers were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions by inspectors at each base by name alleging infringements of the law and conditions attached to licences by places registered to carry out experiments on live animals in 1983, 1980, 1979 and 1954; how many such references were returned; and how many were prosecuted and with what result;
(3) how many letters of warning were sent by inspectors at each base by name about conditions at places registered for experiments with live animals in 1983, 1980, 1979 and 1954.
§ Mr. MellorThe members of the Home Office cruelty to animals inspectorate may, in the course of the thousands of visits they make each year, administer informal or formal warnings to individual licensees or to those responsible for registered premises about the way in which those places are maintained, or the way in which a licensee observes the conditions attached to his licence and certificates. Aggregate records of such warnings are not kept centrally or in regional offices and are not available without incurring disproportionate costs.
Any infringement of the law and infringement of licence conditions is recorded centrally, and the numbers which have been detected are published each year in the annual statistics 'Experiments on Living Animals'.
In 1954 there were 13 infringements of the Act or licence conditions none of which were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. In all those cases either the licensee concerned or those responsible at the places where the infringement occurred were admonished.
In 1979 there were 28 cases of infringement of the Act or licence conditions. In 13 cases the licensees concerned were admonished by the Secretary of State, in one case the licensee had his licence revoked, in another the Secretary of State decided that the circumstances did not justify any action and in 13 cases the facts were brought to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions who decided not to initiate proceedings and passed the papers back to the Secretary of State.
In 1980 there were 25 infringements. In 15 cases the licensees concerned were admonished by the Secretary of State, in one case the licensee had his licence revoked, in another the licensee had his certificate disallowed and in eight cases the facts were brought to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions or Crown Agent who decided not to initiate proceedings. The statistics for 1983 are not yet available but will be published later this year.
The majority of infringements are of technical nature, for example the failure to renew a licence on time, or the performance of procedures without authority, but which would have been authorised if there had been proper application. In deciding the most suitable action, the Secretary of State takes into account whether additional suffering has been caused to the animals concerned, the circumstance of the infringement, the attitude and past record of the licensee and his explanation for the infringement.