Written questions by Wheeler.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of enhancing the regulatory oversight of the harm-benefit analysis process for service licences issued by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit.

Awaiting answer.

For what reason service licences issued by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit do not require information on the exact substance that is being tested in the tests they authorise.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that service licences issued by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit accurately assess the harms and benefits of the tests they authorise.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to her Department’s publication entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2024, published on 23 October 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the increase in the number of procedures involving (a) fish, (b) rats and (c) horses from 2023 to 2024.

In 2024, there were 2.64 million regulated scientific procedures carried out in Great Britain involving living animals. This is a decrease of 1% on the previous year, and the lowest number since 2001.The trends in the number of animals and types of procedures carried out each year are influenced by a range of extraneous factors, for example requirements for research and testing which include products being brought to market.The Home Office is responsible for regulating under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to assure compliance with protections afforded to animals used in science and to administrate the licensing framework. Data trends and requirements will be assessed by the authorities whom have particular responsibilities and requirements for the use of animals of science.

With reference to her Department’s publication entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2024, published on 23 October 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the increase in the number of (a) marmosets and tamarins and (b) rhesus monkeys used for the first time in scientific procedures from 2023 to 2024.

The requirements for regulatory testing are set by regulators such as the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, which regulates medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion in the UK.The use of non-human primates continues to represent a very small proportion of the total number of procedures carried out in Great Britain, accounting for approximately 0.1% of all experimental procedures in 2024. The total number of procedures using non-human primates, and the total number of non-human primates used decreased in 2024 compared to 2023. Non-human primates are required by regulatory authorities for use in their assessments of whether potential medicines and other therapeutics are to be considered safe for human use. Non-human primates are also used for the safety assessment of novel pharmaceuticals in cases where they are the most appropriate and scientifically justified species.Non-human primates are classed as specially protected species, and their use is permitted only under exceptional circumstances.The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 ensures that all use of non-human primates in the UK is strictly regulated and licences that authorise testing on non-human primates are only granted where there is robust scientific justification and no viable alternative. Each project licence application is subject to a rigorous harm-benefit analysis, and the welfare of the animals is a primary consideration at every stage.This Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy by the end of this year to support the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing.

With reference to her Department’s publication entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2024, published on 23 October 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the increase in the number of procedures conducted for LD50 and LC50 tests from 2023 to 2024.

The Lethal Dose 50 and Lethal Concentration 50 procedures are subject to strict regulations under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This legal framework requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.Some authorised medicines in the UK include quality control tests which require the use of animals, conducted to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of specific medicines. These tests account for the LD50 cases still conducted.The requirement for LD50 and LC50 tests is set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations set by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.This Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy by the end of this year to support the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing.

Whether she has had discussions with the Scottish Government on the effectiveness of the (a) Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 and (b) Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the Disclosure and Barring Service check regime.

The disclosure and barring regime in Scotland is devolved and the UK Government engages regularly with the Scottish Government to ensure that the regimes work effectively together to keep the public safe.We keep the disclosure and barring regime in England and Wales under constant review to ensure that it continues to strike an appropriate balance between keeping the public safe and enabling ex-offenders to move on with their lives.On 9 April 2025, the Government published an update on its work to tackle child sexual abuse, available on GOV.UK: Tackling Child Sexual Abuse.By the end of 2025, we will introduce secondary legislation to create the ability for self-employed individuals, working in sensitive roles with children and vulnerable adults, to access higher-level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.We have introduced primary legislation to remove the supervision exemption in the Crime and Policing Bill.By 2026, working with ACRO Criminal Record Office & DBS, we will enable those making decisions overseas to have access to DBS barred list data.

What steps the Animals in Science Regulation Unit is taking to (a) help ensure the maintenance of animal welfare standards at licensed facilities during periods of extreme heat, (b) monitor compliance and (c) respond to any identified concerns.

Licensed establishments are responsible for the welfare of animals in their care at all times, including during extreme weather. Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), all such establishments must comply with legal requirements and standards set out in the Home Office’s published Operational Guidance and Code of Practice.These documents require establishments to have contingency plans for temperature extremes to ensure animal welfare. Establishment licence holders must ensure sufficient trained staff are in place to maintain high standards of care and facility management.Daily checks by competent personnel are mandated under Standard Condition 4 to monitor animal welfare and environmental conditions, with prompt action required to address any issues. Standard Condition 18 requires that any breaches or potential breaches of licence conditions be reported to the Secretary of State.The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) monitors compliance through regular audits, including both announced and unannounced visits, to assess animal welfare and adherence to ASPA.

If she will make an estimate of the average waiting time for asylum decisions; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce the average time.

The average time taken to process a substantive decision is not currently available from published data, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.However, the Home Office does publish data on the number of asylum claims awaiting an initial decision by duration. This data can be found at table Asy_D03 of the ‘Asylum and resettlement summary tables’.Additionally, data on the percentage of applications processed within 6 months is published in table ASY_01 of the ‘Immigration and Protection’ data of the Migration Transparency Data collection.We are restoring order to the asylum system so that every part – border security, case processing, appeals and returns – operate swiftly.As a result, asylum decision making increased by 52% in the last three months of 2024.The Home Office continues to take action to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system.