Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the five-year survival rates for brain cancer.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Improving outcomes and survival rates remain a firm priority for the Government across all cancer types. However, we recognise that for rarer cancers, such as brain cancers, which are harder to diagnose and treat, survival rates are too low, and this needs to drastically change.

Research is vital in improving survival rates, which is why in December 2025 the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer. The NIHR is investing an initial £13.7 million, with significant further funding due to be awarded early in the new year.

Reducing the number of lives lost to cancer will be a key aim of the National Cancer Plan for England, which is due to be published shortly. The plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including brain cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Closing the Gap: A roadmap for equitable access to genomic testing and precision medical trials for all patients with a brain tumour in the UK published by the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission in September 2024.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the National Cancer Plan, officials have engaged with a range of stakeholders, including brain cancer clinical experts and charities, as well as receiving this report. The Department received over 11,000 responses to the Call for Evidence, which have been analysed to support the development the plan.

On 24 October 2025, NHS England published the Medium-Term Planning Framework – delivering change together 2026/27 to 2028/29. This sets out that all National Health Service providers must support embedding research as part of everyday care, meet the site-specific timeframes of the Government’s 150-day clinical trial set-up target, and for research activity and income to be reported to boards on a six-monthly basis.

We are also embedding genomic testing as routine practice within the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and its workforce. This includes seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs delivering comprehensive genomic testing and analysis, such as whole genome sequencing, as part of routine care. The Genomics Education Programme is responsible for upskilling the entire multi-professional, multi-specialty NHS workforce in genomics.

The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials on brain cancer to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expand brain cancer trials in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with brain cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the United Kingdom a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for brain cancer.

In December 2025, the Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. Significant further funding is due to be awarded shortly. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.

The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials on brain cancer to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the size of the probiotics market in the UK, and (2) its potential for growth.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The size of the probiotics market in the United Kingdom was £1.07 billion in 2024 (table 1, Euromonitor International*). The UK market value for probiotic products grew by 19% between 2019 and 2024 (in 2024 prices) and 41% by sales volumes. Recent growth in the probiotic market has been attributed to the increasing popularity of probiotic dairy products like Kefir.

Table 1 – UK probiotic product retail sales (GBP million, Euromonitor)

Euromonitor have considered growth in the wider UK diary and dairy alternatives market and forecast that the value of probiotic dairy market will grow by 14% up to 2029, to £1.2 billn. There is no forecast for the overall probiotics market, but as probiotic dairy products make up 99% of the market by volume, this forecast is sufficient for the market overall.

*Although Euromonitor aims to correct inaccuracies of which it is aware, it does not warrant that the Intelligence will be accurate, up-to-date or complete as the accuracy and completeness of the data and other content available in respect of different parts of the Content will vary depending on the availability and quality of sources on which each part is based. Euromonitor accepts no liability in regard to the derived data which has been presented here and furthermore, Euromonitor does not warrant that the Intelligence will be/is fit for any particular purpose(s) for which they are used as Euromonitor does not have any knowledge of, nor control over, those purposes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ringfence funding for brain cancer research.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is a major area of NIHR spending at £141.6 million in 2024/25, reflecting its high priority.

Too little is known about how to prevent, diagnose, and manage brain tumours. They remain one of the hardest cancers to treat and a challenging area for research. That is why we are committed to furthering our investment in brain cancer research and have already taken steps to stimulate scientific progress.

In December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. Significant further funding is due to be awarded shortly. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including brain cancer. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on brain cancer to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, what steps they are taking to identify regulatory barriers and evaluate reimbursement policies for brain cancer therapies.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that there are currently limited treatment options available for people who have been diagnosed with cancerous brain tumours and recognises the significant impact this rare cancer can have on patients, carers, and their families. All new licensed medicines, including medicines for brain cancer, are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether they represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources. NICE is actively evaluating a number of new medicines for potential use in the treatment of brain cancers.

NICE works closely with companies and the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and aims to issue guidance on new medicines as close as possible to the time of licensing. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE and funding from the Cancer Drugs Fund is available for cancer medicines from the point of a draft positive NICE recommendation, bringing forward patient access by up to five months.

The MHRA has several pathways which facilitate rapid assessment of medicines. This includes international collaborations such as Project Orbis and the Access Consortium. The MHRA has also introduced the International Recognition Pathway, which allows the MHRA to take into account the expertise and decision-making of trusted regulatory partners, and the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway scheme, focussed on getting new and transformative medicines to patients in the UK health system more quickly. Recently, the MHRA also issued new regulations to make it faster and easier for cutting-edge cancer treatments and personalised gene therapies to be made right where patients are treated.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of reference pricing for drugs on long-term system capacity and the ability of clinicians to tailor treatments to complex patient profiles within ophthalmology services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No specific assessment has been made.

The intention of the reference pricing is to support long term capacity in ophthalmology by enabling trusts to reinvest realised savings directly into local services, including workforce, equipment, and service redesign. Clinical autonomy is maintained, and clinicians will continue to be able to tailor treatments to individual patient needs, including complex cases, where this is clinically indicated.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the ranking methodology for the proposed single national formulary will include (1) workforce productivity, (2) equitable patient access, and (3) quality of life outcomes.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out a commitment to move towards a Single National Formulary (SNF) for medicines within the next two years. The plan details that the SNF will include sequencing of products within clinical pathways based on clinical and cost effectiveness, overseen by a new formulary oversight board supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE guidance will be used for the underpinning clinical and cost effectiveness evidence, including resource implications, to guide these decisions. The SNF will be a key enabler to support fair and equitable patient access to NICE-approved medicines across the country.

Work is already underway to deliver the SNF through a phased approach. We are already working closely and collaboratively with key stakeholders including NICE and the pharmaceutical industry and medical royal colleges, to develop and design the implementation of the SNF. We will continue to utilise local expertise to ensure the SNF is successfully implemented, and local system support, particularly from pharmacy and medicines formulary teams, will be essential to successful delivery of the SNF, which is why joint activity has already started early in the process.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what mitigations they have secured under the United States' "Most Favoured Nation" drug pricing initiative as part of the UK–US Economic Prosperity Deal.

Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)

The US has committed to ensuring that access to medicines and launches of new innovative medicines in the UK are not inadvertently impacted by the US’s ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy, thereby reducing the risk to the UK where the NHS has managed to secure lower prices for medicines.

Further work to finalise underpinning details is ongoing.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant are being applied by (1) Op COMMUNITY, and (2) local health bodies.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No formal assessment has been made to how the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant are being applied by Op COMMUNITY or local health bodies.

Op COMMUNITY was an NHS England funded pilot that concluded in March 2024. Insights from the pilot have been used to shape the new Armed Forces National Training and Education Programme, which aims to strengthen understanding across the National Health Service of the unique needs of the Armed Forces community.

The programme is now being rolled out across the NHS. Dedicated training modules for integrated care boards will be introduced in 2026. These will support local NHS staff in developing a clearer understanding of the specific health needs of the Armed Forces community and the principles underpinning the Armed Forces Covenant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost-effectiveness of increasing the uptake of urine albumin-creatine ratio tests so that all patients with chronic kidney disease have an annual test.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing clinical guidance and quality standards. NICE’s guidance on chronic kidney disease includes guidance on the use of annual urine albumin-creatine ratio tests as the preferred method to detect and monitor kidney disease. The guidance is available on NICE’s website.

Found: Letter dated 30/01/2026 from Baroness Merron to Lord Kamall, Lord Wolfson of Tredegar, Baroness Finlay