Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many roundtables have been hosted by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with researchers and patient groups to discuss research on Motor Neurone Disease since 2021; and what plans they have to host future roundtables with these groups.

The Department has hosted two roundtables to discuss research on motor neurone disease (MND) since 2021. A roundtable was held in April 2021 to discuss the Government’s role in funding targeted research into MND. It was attended by the Minister of State for Social Care (Helen Whately MP) and was hosted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre on behalf of the Department and a coalition of United Kingdom MND charities and researchers.

A second roundtable was hosted by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in February 2023 and explored the path towards treatments for MND, bringing together a number of Ministers, people with lived experience of the disease, charities, researchers, funders and policy makers. The Department does not have any current plans to host future roundtables but is working on a range of activities to progress research into MND as part of the £50 million commitment for research into the disease.