§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the funding of researchers through MRC or ARC grants to travel abroad to conduct research on animals. [104282]
§ Ms HewittThe MRC and BBSRC (formerly known as ARC) do not provide funds for any animal research unless the work proposed is of high quality, the need to use animals has been properly justified, and any suffering is minimised.
Collaborations between UK scientists and their counterparts in the USA, Europe, or other countries play an important role in ensuring the quality and efficiency of UK scientific research, and avoiding duplication. Researchers supported through MRC and BBSRC grants will often pursue joint projects with researchers in other countries, and a small proportion of these may involve animals.
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Unit of delivery Starts to FTET option between January 1998 and July 1999 Of which, number who had left New Deal by the end of September 1999 Number recorded as completing FTET option before leaving New Deal As a percentage of those for whom completed/left early is known Number recorded as leaving FTET option early before leaving New Deal As a percentage of those for whom completed/left early is known Number who had left for an unknown destination by the end of September 1999 As a percentage of those who had left New Deal by the end of September 1999 Tayside 474 323 61 36 109 64 47 15 Ayrshire 371 242 37 25 113 75 29 12 Borders 64 34 1 7 14 93 8 24 Dumfries and Galloway 181 101 23 40 35 60 19 19 Dunbarton 211 103 15 28 38 72 21 20 Edinburgh, East and Mid Lothian 317 200 24 29 58 71 40 20 Fife 479 295 48 30 113 70 60 20 Forth Valley1 294 145 18 24 58 76 31 21 Glasgow 1,112 570 74 24 240 76 133 23 Grampian 134 80 11 28 29 73 15 19 Moray, Strathspay and Badenoch 35 23 7 70 3 30 7 30 Lanarkshire 651 348 23 12 176 88 65 19 Renfrewshire 272 153 22 23 73 77 36 24 West Lothian 98 60 7 21 26 79 12 20 Argyll and The Islands 20 9 0 0 3 100 1 11 Caithness and Sutherland 30 15 1 14 6 86 2 13 Inverness and Nairn 44 22 8 53 7 47 5 23 Lochaber 6 2 0 0 1 100 0 0 Western Isles 30 17 7 88 1 13 4 24 Orkney 6 2 1 100 0 0 0 0 The MRC and BBSRC expects UK researchers collaborating overseas to ensure standards at least meet those set out in the individual Research Council's own ethical guidelines. The Research Councils will not provide grant funds for animal research if it appears that it is being done overseas in order to reduce costs or to bypass the high standards set in the UK.
Very occasionally, MRC has provided funds for work on health problems in developing countries where the medical problem being studied—for example, transmission of parasites from animals to people—has meant the research had to be done in the developing country.
BBSRC funds the travel and subsistence costs of researchers to enable them to visit overseas research laboratories for short periods. Research on animals may be involved, but the annual number of such travel and subsistence is small, and those involving animal research is a small fraction of this.