§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Government Departments(a) carry out and (b) fund procedures licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. [142408]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienLicence authorities to carry out scientific procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 are held by 11 Government establishments, undertaking work on issues including the management and conservation of fish stocks, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of agricultural animals and the safety testing of vaccines. A number of other establishments licensed under the 1986 Act with executive agency, non-departmental public body and research council status also have links with Government Departments. The parent and associated Government Departments for these two groups of licensed establishments include the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Health, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Scottish Executive.
The Home Department does not hold detailed information centrally on the sources of funding for research programmes licensed under the 1986 Act. The Home Department liaises with a number of grant awarding bodies on issues relating to the licensing of scientific research under the 1986 Act. Government Departments which may fund such research directly or indirectly include the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Department of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Ministry of Defence and the Scottish Executive.
§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps his Department is taking to explain to the public the criteria used to license scientific procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; [142410]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to consult the public about research licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. [142409]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain (1999: Cm 4841) are published annually and explain the system of control in detail in Appendix A.
304WThe Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (HC321) provides information on the main provisions of the Act, the cost/benefit assessment of applications for authority to use animals in scientific procedures, the ethical review process and how the Act is administered and enforced.
A detailed paper on the cost/benefit assessment is included in the annual report of the Animal Procedures Committee 1997. The Committee's annual reports contain information on immediate operational matters, wider aspects of the general and current working of the Act and longer term issues relating to the use of animals.
The Animal Procedures Committee will announce a public consultation on 15 December 2000 as part of its review of the cost/benefit assessment. As part of this work, the Committee plans to produce an authoritative statement on the validity of animal experiments and to report in the summer of 2001.
In January 2000, the Openness Working Group of the Animal Procedures Committee sought the views of interested individuals and bodies on the openness issues relating to the licensing of scientific research under the 1986 Act. I expect to receive its report shortly.