Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, project licences are granted to named individuals and not to companies. Comprehensive statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain regulated by the 1986 Act are published annually and are placed in the House Library. These include details of project licences in force at the end of each year in various categories of designated establishment, one of which is commercial. The following table gives full details from 1996 to 2006 (the latest year for which figures are available).
Public health labs Universities Quangos NHS hospitals Government Departments Non-profit making Commercial Total 1996 24 2,270 276 58 97 80 444 3,249 1997 32 2,281 286 45 90 95 503 3,332 1998 28 2,354 288 40 90 87 439 3,326 1999 23 2,012 259 39 88 86 424 2,931 2000 23 1,956 248 36 81 86 412 2,842 2001 21 1,908 245 30 79 95 388 2,766 2002 26 1,899 252 36 89 111 404 2,817 2003 23 1,953 273 34 85 96 365 2,829 2004 18 1,766 254 26 102 93 328 2,587 2005 15 1,693 30 85 236 105 313 2,477 2006 26 2,365 294 40 105 88 478 3,396