Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to move funding away from being centered in the London and the Home Counties and towards research projects in (a) Devon and (b) other areas of the UK.

The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research infrastructure spans England in order to build research capacity, including in Devon.

The NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) is the main vehicle for clinical research delivery and will introduce a new national funding model in 2026/27 to ensure fair, transparent, and consistent funding across all regions, reducing variation, and supporting underserved areas.

Devon hosts four NIHR-funded infrastructure: the Regional Research Delivery Network South West Peninsula; the Exeter Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility; the HealthTech Research Centre for Sustainable Innovation; and the Applied Research Collaboration for the South West Peninsula, which supports the whole of Devon. In line with prior commitments, the Department has increased funding for infrastructure developing and delivering research outside the greater South East.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care from across England and the United Kingdom. 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.

Additionally, by investing in career development initiatives through the NIHR Academy, NIHR Infrastructure, and the RDN, the NIHR continues to fund high quality applied health and care research and training across England.