An introduction
Personal licences are granted to individuals and authorise them to conduct particular types of regulated procedures on one or more species of protected animals. As mentioned earlier, as a Personal Licence Holder you are only authorised to conduct procedures that are specifically authorised on the project licence, and only for the purpose specified on the licence. You should always check that this authorisation is in place before starting any experiment. You should also check that the room that you are using for the procedure is authorised for that purpose on the Establishment licence.
Personal licences are reviewed by the Home Office every five years but can be amended or revoked at any time. The Home Office charges a fee for each personal licence.
Categories of Personal licence
Your personal licence states the species of animals that you can work with and the broad types of techniques that you can undertake.
| PIL A | Procedures requiring no sedation, analgesia or anaesthesia at all. |
| PIL AB | Procedures requiring short-term sedation, analgesia and/or anaesthesia for restraint or non-surgical minor procedures, and surgical procedures under brief non-recovery general anaesthesia. |
| PIL ABC | Procedures requiring anaesthesia for surgery or for non-surgical procedures lasting longer than 15 minutes (i.e. where the maintenance and balancing of anaesthesia is important, as well as its induction. |
| PIL ABCD | Procedures involving the use of a neuro-muscular blocking agent (i.e., as an adjunct to category C). |
| PIL E | For procedures carried out under a specific “training or educational” project licence. This category can only apply on its own. The specific project licence has to be identified. The use of living animals solely for training purposes is usually discouraged by the Home Office, as suitable alternatives (e.g. cadaver work, or videos of scientific procedures) are likely to be available. Educational licences are usually granted to improve the knowledge and skills of biomedical undergraduates in selected in vivo work, where objectives cannot be achieved by alternative methods. Trainees are usually expected to be likely to perform in vivo experiments in the future. |
| PIL F | “Other procedures”. This category usually is combined with other types of PIL e.g. PIL ABF. The NTCO and/or Home Office Inspector will be able to provide further advice. |
The training that you are required to undertake prior to applying for a personal licence will vary depending upon the category of licence you require (see Home Office Guidance Chapter 9). As well as accredited modular training, you will need to be trained in local procedures relating to animal use for research purposes within your own establishment. In all cases, it is advisable to discuss training with the Institute’s Named Training and Competency Officer (NTCO), and the Home Office Liaison Contact (HOLC), as soon as possible.
Relevant training
You will also be expected to have had training relevant to the species that will be authorised on your licence. If you have undergone training within the EU, then evidence of this may satisfy the Home Office that you do not require any additional training except this module, on UK legislation. If you have undergone training outside the EU, evidence of your training and experience may also be accepted and a Home Office Advice Note on Training gives further details of this. The Home Office will require that you undergo training and assessment relating to the UK legislation (the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act), as provided in this module. If you have undertaken your training in the UK, then a certificate providing evidence of successful completion of the specific training modules is issued by the course accrediting body. You should show this to the Named Training and Competence Officer, and file it securely, as it will be needed in order to apply for your licence, and may be required in the future.
This application process is now dealt with electronically, by the Home Office Liaison Contact at your Institution, and is usually very rapid.
Period of supervision
After you have been granted your personal licence, you can only conduct procedures on animals under the supervision of the project licence holder or another experienced Personal Licence Holder designated by them. Once you have been assessed as competent to perform the technique, then you can carry it out without supervision. You need to record what you have done and what techniques you have been assessed as competent to perform. Your institution will have systems in place for maintaining these records. If you move establishments or work at more than one, then you need to be able to show these records at the other establishment. The process of supervision and assessment is overseen by the Establishment’s Named Training and Competency Officer. This person will want to check your training records, to ensure they are up-to-date and complete, and the records may also be requested by the Home Office Inspector.
Personal Licence holder responsibilities
Personal licences have a set of standard conditions that you must observe. The full list of these is in Appendix 1 of these notes.
As a personal licence holder, you have primary responsibility for the animals that you use in your studies. You must maintain records of each of the procedures you carry out, including details of any supervision. Different Institutions will vary in how they require these records to be maintained, but they must be readily available for inspection by the Home Office.
In all cases, you are also responsible for accurately labelling the cage or pen. Where electronic labelling systems exist, this does not remove your responsibility. You will need to work with the NACWO to ensure that your cages/pens are labelled correctly (in line with the Home Office Guidance p36) and in a timely manner.
As a Personal Licence Holder you are required to:
- Be able to recognise signs of pain or other adverse effects and be familiar with methods of alleviation;
- Take steps to prevent or reduce pain, distress or suffering;
- Advise the project licence holder if the severity limit of the protocol authorising the study on the project licence is or is likely to be exceeded; this means that constraints described in the adverse events section have been or are likely to be exceeded, or that something adverse has happened which is not described;
- Obtain veterinary advice whenever necessary; (and it is advisable to keep your own records of this advice);
- Ensure the prompt humane killing of any animal which appears to be suffering severe pain or distress that cannot be alleviated;
- Ensure the humane killing of the animal at the end of the procedure if adverse effects are likely.
Delegating duties
Some minor procedures which do not require particular skills or training can be delegated to assistants who do not hold a personal licence, for example withdrawing food and water, placing animals in restraining devices and pairing genetically altered animals according to a predefined breeding program. These procedures must be authorised on your personal licence and the appropriate project licence. You are responsible for directing the conduct of the procedure and remain responsible for the welfare of the animals.
At the end of the procedure, you may be required by the project licence holder to make a retrospective assessment of the actual severity experienced by the animal over the course of the experiment.