§ 47. Mr. Greg Knightasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take to further reduce the number of animals used in experiments.
§ Mr. MellorWe intend to introduce as soon as parliamentary time permits legislation to provide for stricter controls on scientific procedures on living animals, with the declared object of ensuring that the number of animals used and the severity of procedures are kept to the absolute minimum necessary. Details of the Government's proposals were published in the two White Papers "Scientific Procedures on Living Animals", Cmnd. 8883 and Cmnd. 9521. In addition we shall continue to encourage the development of alternatives to the use of live animals in scientific research; and to play an active role in the exploration of possible changes in international regulatory requirements which would further reduce the experimental use of live animals.