Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Government funding has been allocated to finding treatment for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma in (a) each of the past three years and (b) 2016-17.

Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories such as for brain tumours and information on total annual NIHR spend on brain tumour research is not held.

The usual practice of the Department's NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics such as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.

The Government agrees that an increase in the level of research into brain tumours is crucial in order to achieve better outcomes for patients and their families who are affected by these devastating diseases. A new Department of Health Task and Finish Working Group on Brain Tumour Research will be bringing together clinicians, charities and officials to discuss how, working together with research funding partners, we can address the need to increase the level and impact of research into brain tumours. The Working Group will be chaired by Professor Chris Whitty, the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser. It will first meet on 18 October and the Government anticipates that it will complete its tasks by September 2017.