Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment the Department has made of the impact of Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) funding reductions on research and innovation in antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research helps protect public health by developing new treatments, diagnostics, vaccines and prevention strategies to combat infections that no longer respond to existing antimicrobial medicines.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a wide range of funding programmes across the organisation to improve our understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and deliver innovative solutions to this growing global challenge.

In July 2026, UKRI announced the outcomes of STFC's prioritisation exercise, detailing the decisions taken across its portfolio to reach a balanced position by 2029/2030 while protecting the facilities, capabilities and research strengths most critical to its mission. Among these is Diamond Light Source, which provides national-scale infrastructure for structural biology, drug discovery, imaging and biological materials research that support a range of life science research areas including tackling AMR.