Animal Experiments

HC Deb 28 January 1986 vol 90 cc482-3W

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the advisory committee on animal experiments will publish its report.

Mr. Mellor

The advisory committee on animal experiments does not publish a regular report on its work, but from time to time its reports to my right hon. Friend on subjects of special investigation are published. The animals procedures committee which is to replace the present committee under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Bill[Lords], will be required to make to my right hon. Friend an annual report on its activities, which will be published.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what organisations the advisory committee on animal experiments has consulted.

Mr. Mellor

My right hon. Friend receives advice, which he makes available to the committee on matters in which it is interested, from scientific and professional bodies and animal welfare organisations. Members of the committee also visit places where experiments are carried out.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many laboratories the advisory committee on animal experiments has visited.

Mr. Mellor

This information is given in an appendix to the "Statistics of Experiments on Live Animals, Great Britain" published each year by my right hon. Friend. In 1984, the last year for which statistics are available, members of the committee made three visits to places registered under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, to see experiments in progress and to have discussions with licensees.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress the advisory committee on animal experiments has made in assessing the use of animals in painful psychological and behavioural experiments.

Mr. Mellor

The advisory committee is continuing its examination of psychological and behavioural experiments using live animals, which involve the infliction of stress. The committee expects in due course to report to my right hon. Friend.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria will be used to choose the veterinary surgeon, and the person responsible for day-to-day care of laboratory animals, in connection with premises registered to perform animal experiments under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Bill [Lords].

Mr. Mellor

Before deciding whether or not to approve the persons nominated for these functions by applicants for certificates my right hon. Friend will take into account, in the light of the views of his inspector, the qualifications, training, experience and character of those nominated.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what number of licences for experimentation on animals in the field of microsurgery he estimates will be applied for under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Bill [Lords].

Mr. Mellor

It is not possible at this stage to make a precise estimate. However, the numbers of applications for personal and project licences authorising the use of live animals for the purpose of training in this highly specialised area is likely to be very small in proportion to the total numbers of applications for each kind of licence.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the members and their area of expertise of the advisory committee on animal experiments.

Mr. Mellor

The present membership of the advisory committee is as followsDr. M. Balls—Chairman of Trustees of Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments; reader in medical cell biology, University of Nottingham. Professor D. Blackman—Professor of Psychology, University College, Cardiff. J. Brice, Esq.—consultant neurosurgeon, Wessex Neurological Centre. Dr. C. Coid—Head of Division of Comparative Medicine MRC Clinical Research Centre, Harrow. Professor A. Dayan—Professor of Toxicology, DHSS Department of Toxicology, St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Professor the Rev. G. R. Dunstan—Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Theology, University of London, King's College. T. Field-Fisher, Esq., QC—Recorder, Chairman of RSPCA Legal Committee. Dr. J. Hampson—Chief Animal Experimentation Research Officer, RSPCA. Clive Hollands, Esq.—Director, Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection; Secretary, committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation. Sir Andrew Huxley, FRS—Past President, Royal Society; Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Professor S. Jennett—Professor of Physiology, University of Glasgow. Dr. B. B. Newbould — Research Director, ICI Pharmaceuticals. N. Snodgrass, Esq.—Retired Veterinary Surgeon.