Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to (a) reviewing and (b) increasing the allocation of funding for brain tumour research.
As with other Government funders of health research, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research expenditure in a particular area is determined by factors including scientific potential and the number of successful funding applications.
In May 2018, the Government announced £40 million over five years for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, through the NIHR. The NIHR has subsequently funded all applications which have been fundable in open competition. However, this remains a challenging scientific area with a relatively small research community. We are reviewing ways to increase research capacity to deliver more fundable applications.