Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of international researchers working on clinical and cancer research in the UK.

As set out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan and reinforced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, the Department is committed to cutting the current time it takes to get a clinical trial set up, to under 150 days. I refer the Hon Member to the report, including actions and progress so far against the 150-day target, published by the Government on 9 July 2026, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-sector-plan-one-year-on

The National Cancer Plan, available at the link below, outlines actions to increase the speed, scale, and reliability of cancer clinical trials in detail:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cancer-plan-for-england

The 10-Year Health Plan for England, available at the link below, commits to embedding research as a core component of care:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future

An update on the forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will be available in due course.

In July 2026, the Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), published the Research Workforce Update for England which aims to ensure that research opportunities and careers are accessible to a broader range of professions and communities, helping to develop a sustainable and inclusive research workforce across all health and social care settings and geographies for the future. The Research Workforce Update for England is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/research-workforce-update-england

All NIHR personal awards are open to foreign nationals. The Global Talent visa includes certain NIHR personal awards under the recognised list of personal fellowships that allows people to apply for a fast-track visa. Further details available at the following link:

https://royalsociety.org/grants/global-talent-visa-overview/route-2-individual-fellowships/