Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £50 million ringfenced for research into Motor Neurone Disease in 2021 has been allocated; and what assessment they have made of progress in treating the disease.

On 12 December 2022, the Government announced how the £50 million of committed funds for motor neurone disease (MND) research would be allocated over the next five years ending March 2027. As such, £29.5 million of Government funding has been allocated through specialist research centres and partnerships with leading researchers. The remainder, at least £20.5 million, is available via a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Medical Research Council rolling call for MND research supported by a joint Highlight Notice.

The £29.5 million package includes: £8 million to early phase clinical research for MND via the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres; £2 million to the MND Collaborative Partnership, for the research community to coordinate efforts, adding £1 million already contributed by government; £12.5 million to MND research in the UK Dementia Research Institute, where seven of its fifty research programmes are focused on MND; and £6 million for a translational accelerator which will connect UK Research and Innovation, the MND collaborative partnership, and the UK Dementias Platform.