Search Results

1-6 of 6 results for subject:Defence

Show detailed: On Off

Results: 10 20 50 100

Sort by: Newest first Oldest first

Ministry of Defence;Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with which countries the DERA has been involved in collaborative research involving animals in the last 10 years. - Inc text of letter from J Chisholm of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.

Asked by

Paul Flynn (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 December 1997

Reference

20511; 303 c278W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence;Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list (a) the procedures which have been carried out on horses and (b) the number of horses involved in these procedures which have died as a result at (i) Porton Down and (ii) other establishments for which he is...

Asked by

Paul Flynn (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 December 1997

For answer on

18 December 1997

Answered on

18 December 1997

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) the procedures which have been carried out on horses and (b) the number of horses involved in these procedures which have died as a result at (i) Porton Down and (ii) other establishments for which he is responsible in each of the last 10 years. [20468] Mr. Spellar: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my hon. Friend. Letter from J. Chisholm to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 18 December 1997: As Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), I have been asked to reply to your questions about procedures carried out on horses at Porton Down and elsewhere. The numbers of procedures carried out on horses at the Chemical and Biological Defence (CBD) Sector at Porton Down in each of the last 10 years are reported as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Number of procedures 1987 7 1988 1 1989 0 1990 50 1991 46 1992 44 1993 16 1994 0 1995 0 1996 0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Between 1987 and 1993, a total of eight horses were used as blood donors for the supply of normal blood used in the preparation of media for microbiology. The horses were bled in rotation and only small volumes, relative to the size of the animals, were taken. The removal of a small volume of blood every few weeks caused no ill effects in the animals and no animals died as a result of these procedures. As you can see from the figures above, the relationship between the numbers of procedures, animals used and deaths is not necessarily a simple extrapolation. Further, there have been changes in the reporting requirements of the Home Office. For example, when the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 was first introduced, it was agreed with the Home Office Inspectorate that multiple blood samples taken from a single horse would constitute one procedure. This changed in 1990, when a procedure was recorded each time a blood sample was taken. There has been a continuing interest in the use of animals in defence research and the retrieval of information to answer this question has highlighted potential anomalies in the presentation and interpretation of statistics regarding animal experimentation. I refer to my replies to questions from Mr. Norman Baker MP and from yourself (Official Report Cols 174 and 172 dated 2 December 1997). Specifically, in each case we presented the figures on animal experimentation as returned annually to the Home Office. However, there are differences in reporting requirements between the two Acts which have governed animal experimentation (the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 and Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986), and a subsequent revision in 1990 to the 1986 Act has required that the figures recorded are the numbers of procedures conducted rather than the numbers of animals involved. As a result, there are some inconsistencies in the statistics over the period of time in which these changes took place. In the majority of cases, the number of procedures conducted equates to the number of animals used. During the investigations into this matter we have discovered that the over reporting also relates to sheep and dog usage but unfortunately the available data has not been recorded in a suitable manner to allow a reliable breakdown of information to be produced. Nevertheless, the gross statistics which have been provided are substantially correct and represent the maximum experimentation figures. Finally, as far as the Defence Animal Centre is concerned, I can confirm that no procedures have been carried out on horses (and hence there have been no deaths) over the past 10 years. I hope this answers your questions and clarifies the position.

Legislation

Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986

Date

18 December 1997

Reference

303 c278-9W; 20468

House

House of Commons

ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS IN LABORATORIES

That this House is shocked that in the post Cold War period of lessening international tension and reducing defence spending the previous Government increased experiments on living creatures in defence laboratories from 4,500 in 1992, to 8,700 in 1995 to 11,221 in 1997; urges the present Government to use non-animal,...

Primary sponsor

Paul Flynn (Labour)

Type

Early day motions

Date

25 November 1997

Reference

496; 496A1

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence;Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the (a) training and (b) research undertaken by the armed forces which involves the use of animals with in each case the (i) species, (ii) numbers and (iii) procedures concerned. - Text of letter from John Chisholm of...

Asked by

Paul Flynn (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

29 October 1997

For answer on

14 November 1997

Answered on

14 November 1997

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) training and (b) research undertaken by the armed forces which involves the use of animals with in each case the (i) species, (ii) numbers and (iii) procedures concerned; and if he will make a statement. [14234] Mr. Spellar: [holding answer 7 November 1997]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my hon. Friend. Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 14 November 1997: I have been asked to respond to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence on animal training and research by the armed forces as the majority of this work falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). DERA does not undertake any training with the armed forces which involves the use of animals. Specifically, medical officers and the other clinical staff are not trained in technical practises using live animals. The Defence Animal Centre at Melton Mowbray does, however, train animals for military duties. In the 1996/97 financial year, a total of 370 dogs were trained for search and patrol duties, and 60 horses were trained for ceremonial duties. DERA carries out a number of research programmes involving the use of animals and aimed at providing the armed forces with safe and effective protection against specific operational hazards. During 1996, a total of 11221 animals were used. The species were: guinea pigs, hamsters, marmosets, mice, pigs, rabbits, rats, Rhesus monkeys, sheep and goats. To list all of the procedures would involve a disproportionate amount of effort. One of these programmes involves specifically clinical staff from the armed forces. A small number of medical officers from the Defence Medical Services are seconded to CBD to work with DERA staff on research into the management of battle injury and trauma. During 1997, the species and numbers of live animals used up until the end of October in this research programme were: pigs--46; sheep--14; rabbits--8. All work at DERA involving the use of animals is carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Date

14 November 1997

Reference

14234; 300 c687W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to introduce non-lethal disabling weapons for peace-keeping and battlefield use. - (Holding answer 7 November 1997).

Asked by

Paul Flynn (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

13 November 1997

Reference

14415; 300 c615W

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the ban on the use of animals in the testing and development of weapons will come into force. - (Holding answer 4 November 1997).

Asked by

Paul Flynn (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

6 November 1997

Reference

13676; 300 c284W

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

Type

House

Session

Month

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

Publisher