§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the support her Department is giving to the creation of a new primate research centre in Cambridge shire. [25439]
§ Ms HewittThe new Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience will use primates to study behavioral neuroscience, with potential benefits for understanding and treating human disease such as Parkinson's, stroke, and vCJD. However, it is not a centre for primate research as such. All research using animals must satisfy the strict regulations administered by the Home Office.
The construction of the new centre will be funded principally by the Wellcome Trust as part of the Joint Infrastructure Fund, with a smaller contribution from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. My Department is not giving any financial support to its creation. The Minister for Science and Innovation wrote to confirm the national importance the DTI attached to the project, making clear that decisions on the centre's site were for the University of Cambridge and planning authorities. I am placing a copy of his letter in the Libraries of the House.