Early Day Motion 1627
Replacement, Refinement and Reduction Testing Methods
And more GOOD NEWS!!! – December 07
The £1million cash boost announced last September (see below) wasn’t a one-off after all. Science and Innovation minister, Ian Pearson has told the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) that it will see a substantial increase of funding over the next three years.
For many years, Naturewatch has been campaigning for more funds to be granted to 3Rs research as the 3Rs rest at the heart of laboratory culture and underpins the industry’s rules and regulations. Naturewatch warmly welcomed and endorsed the opening of the NC3Rs in 2004 and continues to support the valuable work it undertakes, but was concerned with the limited funding it was receiving.
But it seems that Naturewatch’s campaigning has finally begun to influence the Government, and we are delighted to see its perspective on the importance and value of the 3Rs is improving.
Breakdown of figures for NC3Rs future funding from the Government:
|
2007/08 |
2008/09 |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
MRC |
£1,815,000 |
£2,640,000 |
£3,240,000 |
£3,840,000 |
BBSRC |
£553,000 |
£828,000 |
£1,028,000 |
£1,228,000 |
MRC - Medical Research Council
BBSRC -
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
How you can help...
In light of Ian Pearson’s first announcement regarding the £1 million cash boost last September, Martin Horwood MP tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM 321) on behalf of Naturewatch, expressing our appreciation to the Government for beginning to demonstrate its support for reducing the number of animals used in scientific research.
Now that the Government has committed to grant further funding on an annual basis, Naturewatch believes this move deserves huge recognition, and to illustrate this we are hoping that EDM 321 receives a substantial amount of MP support.
If your MP's name isn’t listed on EDM 321, please write to him or her to ask if they would be willing to add their name. Your MP’s support will help demonstrate to the Government how appreciative everybody is of a Government that is finally beginning to show some commitment towards ending animal experiments.
The wording of Early Day Motion 321 is as follows:
Early Day Motion 321
NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE REPLACEMENT,
REFINEMENT AND REDUCTION OF ANIMALS IN RESEARCH
That this House is delighted that the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has received a £1 million cash boost, increasing its budget to £2.4 million to research 11 new 3Rs projects; thanks the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and The Wellcome Trust for their support; is pleased that the importance of 3Rs research has been acknowledged, given Dagmar Roth-Behrendt MEP's recent statement that the deadline for the 2009 EU-wide marketing ban and animal testing ban on cosmetic ingredients will not be delayed; and asks the Government to continue to acknowledge the value of 3Rs research and further demonstrate its support by continuing
this level of funding.
GOOD NEWS - September 07
On 19 September 2007 Ian Pearson, Minister for Science and Innovations, announced a £1 million cash boost for the research of 11 new Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of animals in research (3Rs) projects. You’ll find details on the NC3Rs website
Since the launch of the NC3Rs Centre in October 2004, the Government has only given the centre minimal financial support. Naturewatch is therefore delighted that the Government is beginning to show some genuine commitment towards developing alternative, non-animal testing procedures.
Whether or not this 'Good News' is in response to our Early Day Motion (EDM 1627), the end result is the same and very encouraging.
This funding has the potential to dramatically reduce the time and costs of future scientific procedures and ultimately to save 100,000’s of animals’ lives.
In light of this announcement, Naturewatch is in the process of tabling a second Early Day Motion to thank Ian Pearson, and to express our appreciation to the Government for beginning to demonstrate its support for reducing the number of animals used in scientific research.
If you would like to know whether your Member of Parliament has signed EDM 321, simply click here [External link]
TABLING EARLY DAY MOTION 1627 - June 07
On 6th June Early Day Motion 1627: Replacement, Refinement and Reduction Testing Methods, was tabled on behalf of Naturewatch by Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham. We are calling on the Government to start making a meaningful commitment to researching alternative, non-animal, testing methods by increasing its annual funding, which currently falls well below an acceptable level.
The wording of the Early Day Motion is as Follows:
Early Day Motion 1627
REPLACEMENT, REFINEMENT AND REDUCTION TESTING METHODS
That this house congratulates the nine EU and US companies that recently developed five alternative testing methods based on the 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction) and which were validated on 27 April 2007 by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM); notes that the tests reduce time and costs and have the potential to provide more accurate results and a more reliable indication of chemical safety than animal tests; highlights that Great Britain is one of the largest users of laboratory animals in the EU, with numbers of scientific procedures using live animals increasing since 1997; is concerned that whilst in 2005 there were 528 licenses for animal testing projects granted, the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research only received enough funding to back nine 3R projects; and calls on the Government to increase its funding to NC3R to help Great Britain contribute more towards the development of the 3Rs.
If you would like to know whether your Member of Parliament has signed EDM 1627, simply click here [External link]
Fact & Figures Expose the Truth - Background information to support the tabling of this Early Day Motion can be found here (PDF)
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