In an interesting development for the life sciences sector, and which could therefore also have significance for the health and education sectors, the government is in the process of making legal changes to include life sciences infrastructure as key national infrastructure for the purposes of the Public Order Act 2023.
Section 7 of this Act makes it an offence for people to do anything which interferes with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure in England and Wales. People convicted of offences can be imprisoned or fined. Life sciences infrastructure will now be added to the list in the Act, which currently includes such things as road, rail or air transport infrastructure, utilities and so on.
The statutory instrument, which can be found here defines life sciences infrastructure as infrastructure the primary purpose of which is facilitating pharmaceutical research, development or manufacturing, or which is used for or in connection with activities authorised by a licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This will therefore include those who are licensed under ASPA, which will include contract research organisations and educational establishments who perform scientific research involving animals, as well as those who breed animals for these purposes. While every effort is being made across the sector to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in scientific research, some testing currently remains necessary to ensure the safety of new medicines.
In recent years, protestors have targeted this kind of activity in ways which could amount to offences under this legislation once it is in force. The civil law has not always been adequate to counter this kind of disruptive behaviour by means of injunctions, and these new powers will enable police to take steps to address disruptive protests and other behaviour which “prevents the infrastructure from being used or operated to any extent for any of its intended purposes”.
The life sciences and pharmaceutical industries are ones in which the UK is a world leader and, as the explanatory letter from Sarah Jones MP to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 27 November 2025 made clear, it is to be hoped that this amended legislation will help bolster the UK’s national health resilience.
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