Animal Experiments: Inspections
Home Department
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training and qualifications will be required for inspectors operating under the Animals Scientific Procedures Act 1986 in the period 2012 to 2015.
Lynne Featherstone (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Equalities Office; Hornsey and Wood Green, Liberal Democrat)
Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, inspectors are required to have such medical or veterinary qualifications as the Secretary of State thinks requisite. We have no plans to change these requirements but will review them when considering the options for transposing European directive 201/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The directive defines the broad range of expertise required for the evaluation of project applications which is currently carried out principally by inspectors.
Training needs will be met through a range of initial training, mentoring and continued professional development to ensure all inspectors carry out their functions effectively.