Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will commit £50 million over five years to establish and operate a motor neurone disease translational research institute.

The next Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years.

Over the past five years, the Department has spent over £10 million on motor neurone disease (MND) research through the National Institute for Health Research. Additionally, UK Research and Innovation, through the Medical Research Council, has spent £49.5 million on MND research over the past five years. This includes research which aims to increase our understanding of the causes and genetic mechanisms of MND. We are currently working on ways to significantly increase further research on dementia and neurodegeneration including medical and care interventions.