THE ROLE OF THE HOME-OFFICE-INSPECTOR

The organisation, qualifications and duties of the Home Office Inspect orate under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and the asse ssment of project licence applications, are reviewed. Project assessme nt has evolved in the light of practical experience, and as a result o f changes in knowledge and policy on ''best practice''. It seems likel y that the philosophy, design and analysis of experiments will improve further as a consequence of changing attitudes and education. The eff ectiveness of the controls on animal experiments and their assessment are noted. Although the number of animal experiments continues to decl ine with time, the number of licensees is more stable, and it is sugge sted that a modest increase in the numbers of Inspectors (from the pre sent 21) would be of value. However, this would probably have to be ju stified by meaningful performance indicators, if these could be devise d.