Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase research funding into the development of anti-epileptic drugs with fewer side effects and greater efficacy.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care including epilepsy treatment and side effects.

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 epilepsy 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.

Details of NIHR funding allocated to individual research awards are openly published and updated quarterly on the NIHR’s Open Data website, at the following link:

https://nihr.opendatasoft.com/explore/

The NIHR also works closely with other Government funders, including UK Research and Innovation, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and which includes the Medical Research Council, to fund research into a range of conditions, including epilepsy.