The Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) has embarked on an ambitious agenda of regulatory reform. The ASRU Regulatory Reform Programme aims to deliver leading regulatory practice, improving how ASRU meets best practice regulatory standards, and enhancing ASRU’s ability to protect animals in scientific testing and research. As part of reforms ASRU will be reviewing and strengthening its licensing and audit processes, with a focus on improving compliance with the legislation and providing a quality service to the science sector.

This Government has committed to soon publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science. The Government recently announced that it will double investment, from £10m to £20m per annum, in research to achieve the three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) with a focus on the development of non-animal alternatives.

We have delivered an ambitious legislative programme since the publication of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which will deliver significant improvements for animals in the UK and abroad. We are firmly committed to maintaining our strong track record on animal welfare and to delivering continued improvements, both in the course of this Parliament and beyond.

Mindful of the challenges facing the sector, we are not consulting on cage reforms. The market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hen production. Egg producers and consumers should rightly have pride in the quality of British eggs, with about 75% coming from free range, barn and organic production systems. The UK also has a significant outdoor pig sector with 40% of the national sow breeding herd farrowing freely on outdoor units with no option for confinement.

We continue to work with the farming industry to maintain and enhance our high standards of animal welfare. The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, part of our domestic agricultural policy, supports farmers to produce healthier, higher welfare animals. The Government’s welfare priorities for the Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.

We are on track to reach net zero by 2050, and we will do so in a way that brings the public with us. We overachieved on our third carbon budget by 15%, and we announce today that we will not be rolling that over as we think that we will be able to overperform on carbon budget 4 as well.

We are committed to investing in targeted schemes that support sustainable farming whilst improving the viability of farming businesses, delivering environmental outcomes and supporting sustainable food production.

Through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway we are providing support directly to farmers in England to deliver gradual, continual improvement against a series of livestock health and welfare priorities, including tackling key endemic diseases alongside a range of welfare issues whilst ensuring that farmers can produce good quality food for the nation.

The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill is now awaiting Royal Assent; this will ban the export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain, stopping unnecessary stress, exhaustion and injury.

Of course, the force protection of UK service personnel and our bases across the middle east is kept under constant review. Having been in Bahrain and Qatar in recent days, I can report that the morale and conditions of those posted to the middle east tend to be very high—they are a very purposeful set of people—but, for operational security reasons, I would not make any comment on the security readiness action plan.

The Home Office committed to review all licences authorising the use of the forced swim test (FST) under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 by the end of March 2024 and has subsequently liaised with licence holders where necessary to implement the recommendations of the Animals in Science Committee.

Since 1 March 2024, three project licences have been amended to remove authorisation of the FST, one project licence that authorised the FST has expired, and two project licences that authorised the FST have been revoked.

As of today, three project licences authorise the use of the FST. The Home Office is engaging with the relevant licence holders to ensure the recommendations of the Animals in Science Committee are implemented in full for those licences.

This Government remain absolutely committed to implementing our action plan for animal welfare. Since the action plan was published in 2021, we have made significant progress on a whole raft of animal welfare measures, such as introducing tougher sentences on animal cruelty and new laws on animal sentience, bringing forward legislation to ban live exports and keeping primates as pets, launching the animal health and welfare pathway, ensuring the microchipping of cats, and backing critical legislation to crack down on puppy smuggling, pet abduction and livestock worrying.

We have delivered an ambitious legislative programme since the publication of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which will deliver significant improvements for animals in the UK and abroad. We are firmly committed to maintaining our strong track record on animal welfare and to delivering continued improvements, both in the course of this Parliament and beyond.

Mindful of the challenges facing the sector, we are not consulting on cage reforms. The market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hen production. Egg producers and consumers should rightly have pride in the quality of British eggs, with about 75% coming from free range, barn and organic production systems.

We continue to work with the farming industry to maintain and enhance our high standards of animal welfare. The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, part of our domestic agricultural policy, supports farmers to produce healthier, higher welfare animals. The Government’s welfare priorities for the Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 April 2024 to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green, PQ 22091.

Through the delivery of our Biological Security Strategy, the Government is committed ensuring the UK is resilient to a spectrum of biological threats, as well as being a world leader in innovation. As part of this Strategy, the Government is undertaking a programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world. This review covers the extent to which the UK shares data with certain companies.

Currently, organisations which hold sensitive biological data are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, organisations such as Genomics England, UK Biobank and NIHR BioResource actively consider national security in decision making about partnerships with companies overseas. These organisations consult with security personnel on a regular basis to ensure partnerships are aligned with our national security interests.

The genomics sector is not currently designated as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). There is a strict framework for classification: CNI assets and systems are those that have been assessed as having a significant and catastrophic impact to the functioning of the UK – either through the loss of life or limb, on the economy, or national security, defence or the functioning of the state – should they be disrupted or compromised. The threshold is a high bar so that resources are focused on the highest priority, and most critical, assets and systems.

There are strong and sufficient provisions protecting UK genomics databases, including through the UK Data Protection Act (2018), which delivers a data protection framework tailored to the needs of our criminal justice agencies and intelligence services. The relevant genomics data is additionally held within Secure Data Environments, affording further security protections.

As with all parts of the CNI landscape, we commit to keeping this position under review.

Southern Water is developing its next Water Resources Management Plan and its draft plan included the proposed to update water meters with smart meters across its customers by 2030 through an extensive replacement programme. The company plans to undertake 10,000 household water audits per year. The company is due to reconsult on its plan this summer. It will not be granted permission to finalise its plan until Defra are satisfied that it is appropriate, including assurance that the water efficiency programme is robust, sufficiently ambitious and enables customers to be efficient with the water they use.

Most water efficiency interventions by water companies are directed to water use within properties. Southern Water have not specified measures beyond smart metering that directly involve the meter chamber. Water meters are normally water company property and measures in the meter chamber would not usually be undertaken by customers.

Southern Water reported through its 2022/23 annual review that it had undertaken smart water meter trials in 1500 homes. The average water use across Southern Water households was 128 litres per person per day in 2022/23, in line with its forecasts and below the latest national average of 141. The Environment Agency and Defra track whether water companies are effectively reducing water consumption across household and business customers each year and escalate concerns where applicable.

The Department and NHS England do not hold information on the sales within the United Kingdom of the non-invasive pre-natal tests branded as NIFTY, manufactured by BGI Group. The NHS Supply Chain, who manage the sourcing, delivery, and supply of healthcare products, services, and food for National Health Service trusts and healthcare organisations across England, develop procurement frameworks which enable NHS organisations to buy goods and services from suppliers. NHS Supply Chain has confirmed that non-invasive pre-natal tests branded as NIFTY and manufactured by BGI Group, are not on their procurement framework.

Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.

We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.

A National Health Service testing programme is helping to diagnose thousands of people with a genetic condition, Lynch Syndrome, that increases the chance of developing certain cancers including bowel cancer. The national programme ensures all people diagnosed with bowel cancer are offered genomic testing, with a diagnosis for Lynch Syndrome not only helping to guide more personalised cancer treatment but enabling their families and relatives to be offered testing too. Relatives who receive a diagnosis of Lynch Syndrome can be referred to genetic services to discuss regular testing options to help catch any cancers as early as possible, as well as to consider preventive options such as taking aspirin or undergoing risk-reducing surgery.

Genomic testing in the NHS in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory (NGTD) which outlines the full range of genomic testing offered by the NHS in England including tests for 3,200 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications, including both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing. The NGTD sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested and the method that should be used, including testing for bowel cancer patients.

The NHS GMS cancer genomic testing strategy has facilitated a move to a consolidated laboratory network through the seven NHS GLHs delivering more extensive panel testing using cutting edge high throughput Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology. For patients, including those with bowel cancer, this technology enables testing for a larger number of genetic variations to give a more precise diagnosis, identify biomarkers to target treatment and opportunities to access innovative medicines, and can support enrolment into molecularly stratified clinical trials.

Testing is available for all eligible patients across the whole of England. Individuals should discuss with their healthcare professional (for example, their general practitioner or other healthcare professional if they are already being seen in a relevant service) whether genomic testing is appropriate for them. Their healthcare professional will then make a decision whether to refer the individual either directly or via an NHS clinical genomics service or other relevant clinical speciality for genomic testing following clinical review of their and their family’s medical history if known, and the relevant genomic testing eligibility criteria.

The 17 NHS Clinical Genomic Services (NHS CGSs), commissioned by NHS England, deliver a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment and lifelong clinical management of patients of all ages and their families who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic or genomic condition. As part of the NHS CGS, the patient and their family will access diagnosis, and management relevant to their particular condition, but also receive support and guidance so that they are able to understand their condition, its implications, and their options in relation to reproduction, screening, prevention and clinical management.

In our White Paper on AI regulation we set out our ambitious pro-regulation, pro-innovation framework, outlining five cross-sectoral principles to be applied by existing regulators. In February we published our response, setting out how we are supporting regulators to deliver the framework and strengthen our global AI leadership. That includes new funding and guidance for our regulators, and we have established a central risk function to support.

In 2023, we delivered a strong removal performance, with overall returns back to pre-covid levels. In total, 26,000 were returned, an increase of 74%, at an average of 500 removed every week last year.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Devon, on 22 January 2024, PQ UIN 9706.

A byelaw restricting the use of bottom-towed fishing gear in 13 Marine Protected Areas mentioned in that answer came into force on 22 March 2024.

The UK is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific, and we are putting our regional approach on a long-term strategic footing. I returned this weekend from Australia, where we have been talking to our colleagues there, working hard on the Indo-Pacific programme.