Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding his Department has provided for research into nutrition in the last 12 months; and whether he has had recent discussions with UK Research and Innovation on nutrition research.
Ministers and official meet regularly with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on a range of issues. UKRI funds a broad range of high-quality research relating to nutrition, spanning different research councils.
During the last 5 years UKRI has spent £251 million on nutrition research, with £65 million spent during the most recent financial year for which full data is available (2023-24).
In addition to this, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) funds research, including on nutrition, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
NIHR spent £11.8 million on nutrition research in the last year and £23.3 million in the last 5 years across a broad spectrum of areas related to nutrition to inform Government policy to improve patient care and help people stay well for longer.