asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of experiments in 1977 performed with live animals were conducted for essential medical research; how many experiments were performed for cosmetic or commercial purposes; and if he will institute a full scale Government inquiry into the use of animals for experimental purposes.

Information about the purposes of experiments performed on living animals in Great Britain during 1977 will be published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in Command Paper 7333 when the present industrial dispute at HMSO is over. The use of animals for experimental purposes has been considered by two Royal Commissions, and more recently the Littlewood committee, which reported in 1965, reviewed the working of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876. The subject is kept under review, through the machinery of the advisory committee on the Act and in other ways. We have no plans to set up another inquiry.

asked the Secretary, of State for the Home Department how many living animals were subjected to extreme temperatures in experiments conducted under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 during 1975, 1976 and 1977.

No relevant information was collected centrally for 1975 or 1976. For 1977, some information was collected about burns or scalds, and will be published when the present industrial dispute at HMSO is over.