All animal work is performed in accordance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). Working under ASPA we are required to have certain individuals named on the Establishment Licence:
Named Person Responsible for Compliance (NPRC) – The establishment certificate holder (representative of senior management). Ensures compliance with ASPA.
Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS) – A member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. The Institute employs a vet who fulfils the requirements of the NVS role and we have a long-standing relationship with a company providing additional veterinary support to ensure full cover at all times. Find out more about what this role entails in our NVS role description.
Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer (NACWO) – responsible for over-seeing the day-to-day husbandry, care and welfare of animals held within the establishment. Each of the four managers within the bioscience areas hold this position. Learn more about how NACWO's help the Institute upload the highest standards of animal welfare.
Named Training and Competency Office (NTCO) – ensures all staff working with animals are adequately educated, trained and supervised and that they continue to undertake further training to maintain their expertise.
Named Information Officer (NIO) – responsible for ensuring that staff dealing with animals have access to information they may need relating to the species and procedures that they use. The Institute's Named Information Manager fulfils this role. Find out more about their work in this role profile.
Other welfare considerations
Animal Welfare, Experimentation and Ethics Committee (AWERB) – Our local ethical review committee reviews all Home Office project licence applications as well as providing oversight on animal welfare matters.
Health surveillance programme – to ensure our animals are healthy and disease-free all colonies are maintained in a bio-secure environment and regular, routine health surveillance is carried out.
24/7 Support – the facility and animals have support from on-call staff who are available 24 hours a day 365 days of the year. This includes a named veterinary surgeon, animal facility management and on-site engineering department.
Environmental Enrichment – all cages receive environmental enrichment to enable the animals to display natural behaviours in order to keep them occupied. This includes nesting material, plastic houses and chew sticks.