Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the response of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to advice in HM Treasury Green Book, updated in 2018 in setting the discount rate it uses for costs and health effects taking into account that NICE has stated that any proposals for change should be subject to formal consultation.

We have made no such assessment. The discount rates applied by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in its health technology assessments are specified in its methods guides. NICE is an independent body and is therefore responsible for its own methods and processes. NICE is currently carrying out a public consultation on the case for change to its methods, which is open until 18 December 2020.