Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter dated 29 August 2023 from Lord Sharpe of Epsom to the Chair of the Animals in Science Committee, what progress they have made in considering the relocation of the portfolio under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There are no plans to relocate the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 portfolio from the Home Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
The Home Office is working with DSIT to advance the Government’s ambitions for the life sciences and the protection of animals used in science.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the survey on Public attitudes to animal research, last conducted for the Office for Life Sciences in 2018, when her Department plans to commission a further survey.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The department does not currently have plans to run the Public Attitudes in Animal Research Survey. Policy teams are working with a variety of external and internal stakeholders to determine the future of the survey.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing financial incentives for businesses to manufacture medicines in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2021, the Government’s Life Sciences Vision set out our ambition to create a globally competitive environment for Life Sciences manufacturing investments. To help meet these ambitions, the Government has launched three capital grant schemes, with up to £118 million of grant funding allocated. To date, these schemes have delivered £416 million of public and private investment and helped create or secure over 1,400 jobs. We anticipate announcing the next round of grant recipients over spring 2024.
In 2023, the Government announced a further £520 million of funding for Life Sciences manufacturing. This funding, available from 2025 over five years, will help to ensure that the United Kingdom remains a world leading location for Life Sciences manufacturing investments.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish detailed implementation plans, covering those health missions within the Life Sciences Vision, as undertaken at its launch in July 2021.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Four of the healthcare Missions published in the 2021 Life Sciences Vision: Dementia, Cancer, Obesity and Mental Health, as well as the Addiction Mission (announced as part of the 2021 Drugs Plan, ‘From harm to hope’) have recruited Chairs, have comprehensive delivery plans and objectives, and are beginning to make substantial investments to operationalise these. Progress on the delivery of the Missions, and the related investments, have and will continue to be made available online at a regular cadence.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how they are measuring progress on the respiratory mission, announced as part of the 2021 Life Sciences Vision, and (2) what progress has been made
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has engaged with stakeholders to define and develop the scope of work to be undertaken under the Respiratory Mission.
Meanwhile, the Government has committed funding to support respiratory research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. This investment is aligned to the aims and ambitions of the proposed Respiratory Mission, outlined in the Life Science Vision, to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with respiratory disease.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will (1) appoint a chair to lead the respiratory mission within the Life Sciences Vision, and (2) provide funding to enable the delivery of the respiratory mission as it has done in the case of the cancer, obesity and mental health missions.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has engaged with stakeholders to define and develop the scope of work to be undertaken under the Respiratory Mission, which aims to reduce the mortality and morbidity from respiratory disease in the UK and globally. At this point a chair of the Respiratory Mission has not been appointed.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on the use of (a) Lecanemab and (b) Donanemab in the treatment of dementia.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working closely together with system partners to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines such as lecanemab and donanemab, should they be granted a marketing authorisation in the United Kingdom and a positive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendation. Partners include the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NICE, NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences, and the devolved administrations, including the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had meetings with the Office for Life Sciences since 1 January 2023.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in aligning medical device regulations with those of international counterparts, and what impact this alignment is expected to have on patient safety, healthcare efficiency and innovation in the life sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Consultation on the future regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom, we have committed to undertaking full reform of the current regulatory regime for medical devices in the UK. The MHRA’s Roadmap towards the future regulatory framework for medical devices sets out a route to deliver, enabling regulation via a series of new statutory instruments (SIs). Priority measures to protect patient safety will be put in place this year, with core elements of the new framework intended to be in place by 2025. A draft statutory instrument to introduce strengthened post market surveillance requirements is planned to be laid in the first part of 2024. A copy of the roadmap is attached.
Following the announcement on the Chancellor’s Life Sciences Growth package in May 2023, we continue to progress the development of a framework for international recognition, including through targeted engagement with stakeholders, building on the outline proposals for alternative routes to market which were included in our 2021 consultation. The planned regulations are also designed to deliver greater international harmonisation, with more patient-centred, proportionate requirements for medical devices which are responsive to technological advances.
Implementing the remainder of the changes outlined in the June 2022 Government response to the 2021 consultation is ongoing. In September 2023, we launched the Innovative Devices Access Pathway as pilot, building the UK offer to innovators of medical devices addressing un-met clinical needs. In the coming year, we also plan to lay further SIs, bringing clarity to industry of the requirements they will need to meet to launch products in the UK in the future. Whilst these changes were outlined in the 2022 government response, we will ramp up our targeted engagement to ensure implementation is done smoothly and in a way that protects ongoing safe supply of products to UK patients.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State of Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the contribution of domestic medicinal cannabis production to the economy.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) actively assists life sciences companies in their endeavours to invest, expand, and export, thereby generating employment and economic growth.
UK-based life sciences businesses receive support from DBT through trade missions to key markets, participation in major trade events, tackling market access barriers, upskilling exporters, and guidance on entering new markets. Although routine assessments of the economic impact of specific life sciences’ subsectors like medicinal cannabis are not conducted, DBT is committed to supporting companies of various sizes throughout their export and inward investment endeavours while adhering to national regulatory guidelines.