§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment his Department has made of the likely future level of scientific procedures on animals; [65081]
(2) what estimate his Department has made from applications for licences to perform scientific procedures on animals of the level of duplication in such procedures; [65082]
(3) what estimate his Department has made of the reduction in the number of scientific experiments on animals that has been achieved as a result of information sharing; [65080]
(4) what targets his Department has set for reducing the number of scientific procedures performed on animals. [65079]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe 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 while recognising the need to use animals in research. It also requires the latest ideas and technology to be taken into account when deciding whether the use of animals is justified.
The licensing system is demand led and the 1986 Act provides no mechanism by which to set absolute limits on the number of animals used. The Act requires that project proposals are assessed on a case-by-case basis and that licences are only granted where the benefits outweigh the costs and where 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). We must also be satisfied that the procedures are likely to achieve the stated objectives.
The number of animal procedures carried out reflects the state of science and industry in the United Kingdom and developments in science rather than being an indicator of the effectiveness of the 1986 Act. The Home Office will, however, continue to implement its overall strategy to minimise the numbers of animals used by the rigorous application of the 3Rs.
It is not possible to predict accurately the amount of scientific research and regulatory testing using animals which is likely to take place in future. However, there are indications that in most areas use of conventional animals will continue to decline, but that new molecular biology techniques are opening up new areas of genetic research which will lead to an increase in the use of genetically modified (GM) animals. In addition, new regulatory requirements, for example, the proposed European Union Chemicals Strategy, have the potential to increase the use of animals for human health and safety purposes.
There is no information readily available to indicate the reduction in scientific procedures using animals achieved through sharing of information. The Government believe, however, that sharing of scientific research data is self-evidently in the interests of refining ad avoiding duplication of procedures, and remains committed to promoting such sharing by any practical means. To this end, in August 2000, we announced an inter-departmental concordat on data sharing. The concordat commits United 432W Kingdom regulatory authorities to help resolve legal and other obstacles and encourage data sharing between clients and thereby reduce animal tests. Progress in implementing the concordat is currently under review.
A programme of work involving the use of animals would not be licensed under the 1986 Act if it were known that it would entail unnecessary duplication of earlier work. Apart from some cases where there is need for deliberate replication of earlier work, in order to validate the original findings, we have no evidence that duplication of animal use takes place.