Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of lifetime direct medical costs associated with births affected by neural tube defects compared to those unaffected; and why they cited German research in the consultation on Amending the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998, which ran from 1 September to 23 November, rather than UK research.

No specific assessment has been made. The consultation on amending the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 cited research from Germany, as a relevant academic study in the United Kingdom was not available.