Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the funding available for the National Institute of Health Research's consortium application for the evaluation of treatments for brain tumours until the end of this Parliament.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.

The Brain Tumour Research Consortium was established in December 2024 to bring together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of driving scientific advancements in how we prevent, detect, manage, and treat brain tumours in both adults and children. The NIHR is working closely with the consortium to support the development of a high-quality funding proposal.

The NIHR will continue to also fund other brain tumour research via open competition, where the level of funding depends on the applications received. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.