Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total funding they have committed publicly to the National Institute for Health and Care Research Brain Tumour Consortium; when and where those funding commitments have been published; and how much of that funding has been (1) allocated, (2) approved, (3) paid, and (4) spent to date.

The Department invests over £1.7 billion each year on research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the Brain Tumour Research Consortium. In January 2026, the NIHR announced further investment of a minimum of £11.7 million in the consortium through funding of work packages. This brings the total investment to over £25 million.

The exact amount paid as of March 2026 is £50,000, which was paid to the contractor on 31 December 2025. This payment was made to support start up activities for the consortium. The NIHR does not currently hold up-to-date expenditure, or a detailed breakdown of how this funding has been spent. This information is currently held by the research team of the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium and will be provided to the NIHR in the future as part of the project’s annual financial returns.

For all awards, contracting and further payments are contingent upon teams submitting and reviewing detailed costs and, if applicable, agreeing to the suggested amendments and requests for clarification which are currently in progress.

Future payments will be issued over the period of the award contracts, which range from five to 10 years, as per the schedule of payments agreed between the NIHR and the consortium.

Information on all awards will be made publicly available in due course. The NIHR is working to ensure that new investments can get up and running as soon as possible. Oversight of the Brain Tumour Research Consortium is the responsibility of the NIHR.

In addition, the NIHR continues to strongly encourage brain cancer research applications through its regular funding opportunities.

The National Cancer Plan, published on the 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions, to be delivered within the next 10 years. The role of the reformed National Cancer Board will be to support and monitor the delivery of the commitments and ambitions and provide regular updates to ministers.

To hold us accountable across these commitments, and to drive forward progress for rare cancer patients, we will appoint a National Clinical Lead for Rare Cancers, who will provide independent advice on improving outcomes.

Until the appointment is made, NHS England’s Clinical Advisory Group has leads for specific rare cancers to provide NHS England and the Department with clinical advice. Professor Lucy Chappell, the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser, is the Chief Executive Officer for the NIHR.