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Written question asked by Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative) on Friday, 9 October 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 October 2026. It was answered by Dan Jarvis (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 October 2026 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Disease Control: Huntingdon

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a) MBR Acres and b) Labcorp within Huntingdon constituency fall within the scope of the 2023 Biological Security Strategy.

Answer

The UK Biological Security Strategy operates on an integrated One Health approach, recognising the links between human, animal, and environmental health to protect the UK from biological threats.

The UK Biological Security Strategy does not govern private laboratories or breeding facilities. These facilities are regulated by the Home Office’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

The Act recognises that maintaining a robust sovereign preclinical research capability is essential to delivering key commitments for the government's ambitions across life sciences. In particular, the rapid development and scaling of vaccines and therapeutics within 100 days.

In November 2025, the former Science Minister published a £75 million Replacing Animals in Science strategy, which looks to accelerate the phase-out of animal testing using non-animal technologies.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
31383
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Disease control National security Huntingdon MBR Acres Labcorp
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk