Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care receives when deciding how to instruct NICE in relation to whether to use the Single Technology Appraisal route or the Highly Specialised Technology route when assessing a new medicine or treatment.

Departmental Ministers, on behalf of the Secretary of State, take decisions on the final referral of topics to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology work programmes on the basis of advice from the Department’s officials. The advice summarises the outcome of a topic selection process that is overseen by NICE and includes consideration of topics against published criteria by a group comprising representatives from the Department, NHS England and NICE and informed by public consultation.