§ John MannTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on animal experiments. [45920]
§ Angela EagleThe use of animals in experiments and other scientific procedures is strictly regulated by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which is widely regarded as the most rigorous piece of legislation of its type in the world. It offers a high level of protection to animals whilst recognising the need to use animals in 569W research. It also requires the latest ideas and technology to be taken into account when deciding whether the use of animals is justified.
We are working to ensure that the highest possible standards of animal welfare are applied and that animals are used only where it is fully justified. To this end, the Home Office has developed and put in place a strategy to ensure that policy is reviewed continuously as scientific and ethical considerations evolve, checking that the costs to animals are minimised and remain outweighed by the potential benefits of the work; compliance and high standards are reinforced through consistently applied inspection, training, guidance and (if necessary) infringement procedures; the advice of the Inspectorate, other welfare and scientific expertise, and the products of local ethical review processes is harnessed in ensuring that there are no alternatives which either replace animal use entirely, reduce the number of animals needed or refine the procedures to minimise suffering (the 3Rs). It also ensures that these are rigorously applied in every case and that the highest standards of animal welfare are implemented.
It is also our strategy to encourage the development and use of alternatives and relevant databases through research funding and education, and through support for the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM); to take a lead in formulating European policies, standards and targets which neither disadvantage the United Kingdom nor drive work abroad to countries where lower standards apply; to liaise actively with legitimate interest groups and encourage the Animal Procedures Committee to take a more public role and offer broadly based and independent advice to Ministers; and to seek to make the administration of the 1986 Act as transparent as possible.