Minutes of Meetings Reports and Publications Consultation Letters Press Releases	Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (available on the Home Office website)

Press Release - October 1999

Membership of The Animal Procedures Committee

25 October 1999 Tel: 020 7273 4600

Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien has announced two changes to the membership of the Animal Procedures Committee (APC).

The APC's work concerns the welfare of protected animals used in scientific procedures.

Mr Robert McCracken, a barrister, has been appointed to the Committee for a 4-year period beginning on 1 September 1999.

In a separate development an existing member, Professor Colin Johnston, has left on grounds of ill health.

Announcing the changes, the Minister said

"I am pleased to welcome Mr Robert McCracken as a member of this important Committee. I set great store by the advice which I receive from the APC and I am sure that Mr McCracken will contribute substantially to it.

"I am similarly sorry about the departure of Professor Johnston, who provided the committee with an important source of expertise in an area of growing significance in medical science. I wish him well for the future."

Notes For Editors:

The announcement was made in answer to a Parliamentary Question today (copy attached).

The Animal Procedures Committee is an independent body set up under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to advise the Home Secretary on the use of animals in scientific procedures and his duties under the Act. Its Chairman is Professor Michael Banner.

The terms and conditions for members are identified in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and are available from the Home Office Press Office. Members of the Committee are not entitled to remuneration, but are entitled to reimbursement of any expenses incurred in performance of official duties. The appointments are renewable after four years but cannot exceed eight years.

With Mr McCracken's arrival and Professor Johnston's departure the Committee remains at 23 members. They come from a variety of backgrounds, including both people who are involved in research involving the use of animals and people who oppose it. Members are appointed because of the expertise and insights they can bring to the Committee, not to represent any organisation.

Mr McCracken was called to the Bar in 1973. He has wide experience in the field of environmental and planning law and its impact on science and industry.

From 1994 to 1996 Mr McCracken was a member of the Labour Party's independent advisory committee on planning law and practice, chaired by Keith Vaz MP. He had been nominated to that by the Planning and Environmental Bar Association, of which he had been Secretary.

Professor Johnston is Professor of Neuro-endocrinology at Queen's University, Belfast. He was appointed to the Animal Procedures Committee in December 1998.

The website address for the Animal Procedures Committee is http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/animact/index.htm

Minutes of Meetings Reports and Publications Consultation Letters Press Releases	Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (available on the Home Office website)