To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has plans to review the provisions of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in respect of the licensing of scientific procedures on animals. (283522)

We have no plans to review the provisions of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the so-called ‘confidentiality clause’, before the outcome of the revision of European Union directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes is known.