Every parliamentary written question tabled by Sarah Champion this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–15 of 15 · Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Innovation and Technology, what is the a) total funding and b) contribution from Official Development Assistance for the International Science Partnerships Fund in the financial years 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29
The International Science Partnerships Fund has an Official Development Assistance allocation of £93 million in Financial Year 26/27, and £64 million in each of Financial Years 27/28, 28/29 and 29/30, totalling £285 million over this Spending Review perio...
Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that AI technologies which fall outside the scope of the Online Safety Act are subject to appropriate regulatory oversight of their potential use in generating child sexual abuse material.
We are committed to ensuring our laws keep pace with technology and are building on the Online Safety Act by taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models which have been optimised to create child sexual abuse material.As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. We are working proactively with regulators, including Ofcom, to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs.
Innovation and Technology, how responsibility for animal welfare policy is divided between (a) his Department, (b) the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and (c) the Home Office; and who the lead ministers are.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is responsible for technology policy around the development, validation and uptake of alternative testing methods, led by Lord Vallance. The Home Office is responsible for regulation of the use of animals in research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which is the legislation that protects animals used for scientific purposes, led by Lord Hanson. Defra is responsible for enacting and enforcing the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which outlines the basic duty of care for animals, led by Baroness Hayman. Defra also develops and implements specific animal welfare regulations, such as animal transport.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2025 to Question 38034, if he will establish an expert advisory group of representatives from (a) industry, (b) academia and (c) civil society to oversee the implementation of its forthcoming strategy on phasing out animal testing.
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The government has been consulting industry, academia and civil society as this process unfolds.The Government is drafting a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. As part of this, we are considering how we harness expertise in the use of animals in science and their replacement, which is of interest to a variety of government departments and bodies. We will make any announcements when the strategy is published later this year.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 46724, what steps his Department is taking to support research into (a) non-animal New Approach Methodologies and (b) alternatives to animal testing.
The Government is committed to the development of New Approach Methodologies and non-animal alternatives. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has a portfolio of investments that support research which can lead to alternatives, such as organ on a chip and computer modelling. In addition they invest £10m annually to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). UKRI also supports ‘human-specific’ research, for example a £15m call on Novel human in vitro models with NC3Rs and Wellcome.The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.
Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking with regulators to increase adoption of non-animal New Approach Methodologies.
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational and regulatory research and testing later this year. As part of this we are engaging with regulators including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and international medicines regulators such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) as to how we will take this commitment forward.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 35265 on Animal Experiments, what steps he plans to take to (a) monitor and (b) report on progress made against the commitments set out in the planned strategy.
The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year. Regarding the monitoring and reporting on progress on commitments made, the plan will include arrangements for governance of delivery.
Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to set (a) clear objectives, (b) measurable milestones and (c) interim targets to phase out animal testing.
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will set out clear objectives and measurable milestones. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners, so we will not be setting interim targets or arbitrary timelines for reducing their use.
Innovation and Technology, whether the forthcoming strategy on phasing out animal testing will include all areas of science and regulatory testing, including chemicals, medicines, and cosmetics; and if he will publish a list of the specific areas under review.
The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational and regulatory research and testing later this year. It will cover the whole range of uses of animals in science, including chemicals, medicines and cosmetics; each sector is at a different stage in its journey to applying alternative methods, which the strategy will take into account.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 20215 on Animal Experiments, what her planned timetable is for publishing the plan.
The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. We are currently engaging with partners from sectors with interests in animal science as to how we will take this commitment forward, including the publishing of a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. We expect to publish this strategy later this year
Innovation and Technology, if he will amend the Online Safety Act 2023 to include a statutory code of practice on gendered violence.
It is a priority under the Online Safety Act for platforms to proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content, much of which disproportionately targets women and girls. This includes harassment, sexual exploitation, extreme pornography, and controllin...
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6247 on Animal Experiments: Cats, what funding is being provided to support human-specific research into relevant conditions.
UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) fund a variety of approaches to research on conditions affecting humans. One third of MRC (Medical Research Council) and BBSRC’s (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) research grants involve the use of ...
Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to consult (a) civil society, (b) animal protection organisations and (c) the public on policy decisions on animal testing.
The Labour Manifesto included a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government will be consulting civil society and animal protection org...
Innovation and Technology, whether he is taking steps to (a) collaborate with international partners on best practices and (b) align regulatory frameworks for animal testing; and what discussions he has had with
Many of the regulations on animal testing are backed by international agreements and the government is keen to ensure regulatory alignment where appropriate. We are engaging with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who represen...
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1045, if he will make it his policy to publish a timetable by Christmas 2024 for phasing out animal testing.
The government is committed to reducing use of animals in scientific research in the long term. Our approach has been to support the development and application of approaches that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs).It is n...