HC Deb 22 October 1992 vol 212 c379W
Mr. McAllion

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will withdraw the project licence authorising the University of Glasgow's department of neurophathology to undertake research on guinea pigs.

Mr. Charles Wardle

My right hon. and learned Friend is required by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to consider the scientific justification for research involving living animals, alongside any adverse effects on the animals involved. He is satisfied that the work authorised at the university of Glasgow meets this test.

Mr. Burden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the trends in the numbers of animals used in scientific procedures.

Mr. Charles Wardle

There has been a long-term downward trend in the number of experiments using animals, although there are bound to be fluctuations from year to year. For example, the 1991 statistics, published in July, showed that animal testing for cosmetics safety was down on the previous year and so was the number of experiments involving primates, but that there had been a slight increase in the total number of procedures carried out. The main reasons for the latter increase were the development of new techniques involving genetically modified material, and the clarification of rules controlling the number of times individual animals may be used in research.

Mr. Burden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reasons underlay his decision to discontinue the listing of statistics for the LD50 and LC50 tests on live animals separately from other statistics relating to laboratory procedures on animals.

Mr. Charles Wardle

The change in the published statistics in 1990 and 1991 was for the sake of clarity, the objective being to ensure that all acute lethal toxicity tests were clearly identified, and not just the formal LD50 and LC50 tests.