Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Medicines Agency on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

Since leaving the European Union, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has become an independent sovereign regulator. As set out in the Life Sciences Vision, MHRA is recognised as a global leader, playing a fundamental role in shaping global standards, acting with agility to allow safe and timely market access for vaccines, medicines, and technologies. MHRA received transitional funding from the Government from 2018 to 2020 and is primarily funded through fees, and also receives grant in aid funding from the Government. The Department receives regular updates on the performance and capacity of the MHRA through established mechanisms including quarterly and annual accountability reviews.