From the retained records available to us details for licences granted in each of the last five years and the current year to date under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 are shown in the following table. A feature of the regulatory regime under the 1986 Act is the discussion that often takes place at an early stage between applicants (or prospective applicants) and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate. When serious deficiencies are discovered with the proposals during these early discussions with the local inspectors this means that proposals unlikely to meet the Act's stringent requirements are revised or withdrawn before formal refusal becomes necessary.
Furthermore it is commonly the case that the authorities ultimately granted are not as originally set out by the applicants.
Year project licence applied for Number of licences applied for Number granted in 2003 Number granted in 2004 Number granted in 2005 Number granted in 2006 Number granted in 2007 Number granted in 2008 to date Number not proceeded with plus those still outstanding at end of the period Number refused 2003 n/a 774 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2004 n/a x 575 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2005 492 x x 386 88 4 1 13 0 2006 586 x x x 430 135 0 21 0 2007 599 x x x x 458 109 32 0 2008 to date 718 x x x x x 563 155 0 Personal Licences 2003 n/a 2,273 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2004 n/a x 2,156 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2005 1,784 x x 1,567 204 5 3 5 0 2006 2,270 x x x 1,968 282 6 14 0 2007 2,505 x x x x 2,267 209 29 0 2008 to date 2,638 x x x x x 2,458 180 0 Certificates of Designation 2003 n/a 6 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2004 n/a x 2 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2005 5 x x 4 — — — 1 — 2006 2 x x x 2 — — — — 2007 2 x x x x 2 — 0 0 2008 to date 2 x x x x x 2 0 0