Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase funding into research on the (a) causes of and (b) treatments for Tourette’s syndrome.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The NIHR has funded a number of research projects on Tourette’s syndrome, including the live ORBIT-UK study, which aims to translate an evidence-based online behavioural therapy intervention for tics in young people into a patient-ready digital tool, deliverable at scale within the National Health Service.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and social care, including Tourette’s syndrome. 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. Welcoming applications on Tourette’s syndrome to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.