Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding was allocated to English for Speakers of Other Languages provision in 2024-25; what is the budget for 2025-26; and what proportion in each case was allocated as grants to local authorities.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Funding for adults to develop the English language skills they need is made available across government – from the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education.

The department supports adults aged 19+ in England who speak English as a second or additional language to access English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), subject to eligibility requirements. ESOL funding is not ringfenced.

Currently 68% of the ASF is devolved to 12 Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These are responsible for deciding how to make best use of their ASF to meet their local needs, including ESOL.

The department continues to be responsible for the remaining ASF non-devolved areas although colleges, local authorities and other training providers in non-devolved areas have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF allocation to meet local skills needs, including ESOL provision.

The department supports 16 to 19-year-olds through funding that is allocated to schools and colleges and enables students to take part in either study programmes or T Levels, which includes funding specifically for English courses where appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include astrocytoma brain cancer in the (a) National Cancer Plan, (b) Rare Cancers Bill and (c) NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Cancer Plan will take into account the needs of all patients with brain tumours. This means we will not be excluding any kinds of brain or spinal cord tumours and astrocytomas will be included as part of our work on brain tumours.

The Rare Cancers Bill as currently drafted is relevant to cancers that affect not more than 1 in 2000 people in the United Kingdom. Astrocytoma and low grade gliomas fit this definition and will therefore be relevant to the Bill.

The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform that will speed up access to clinical trials for cancer vaccines and immunotherapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company, including those developing vaccines for brain tumours, can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with Cancer Research UK to increase levels of future funding for brain tumour research.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department continues to engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including Cancer Research UK and other third sector organisations, to identify areas of investment in brain tumour research. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the research arm of the Department. Working with stakeholders from across the research community, in September 2024 the NIHR launched a package of support to stimulate high-quality research applications through: establishing a national Brain Tumour Research Consortium to bring together researchers from different disciplines to drive scientific advancements in how to prevent, detect, manage, and treat brain tumours; a dedicated funding call for research into wraparound care and rehabilitation for people living with brain tumours; and a partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to fund the next generation of researchers through the Allied Health Professionals Brain Tumour Research Fellowship programme.

We will continue to explore all opportunities for collaborations with Cancer Research UK and other organisations to increase the amount of high-quality research into this important area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using brain tumour research funding announced in 2018 for supporting (a) new vaccines and (b) novel therapeutics.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In May 2018 the Government made a commitment to spend £40 million on brain cancer research. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), directly invested £11.8 million in research projects and programmes focused on brain tumours. The NIHR has also invested approximately £37.5 million in research infrastructure to support the delivery of 261 brain tumour research studies and to enable over 11,400 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain tumour research.

The Government is working closely with the patient and researcher communities to provide new funding opportunities for novel brain tumour research and is stimulating high-quality research applications through: establishing a national Brain Tumour Research Consortium to bring together researchers from different disciplines to drive scientific advancements in how to prevent, detect, manage, and treat brain tumours; a dedicated funding call for research into wraparound care and rehabilitation for people living with brain tumours; and a partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to fund the next generation of researchers through the Allied Health Professionals Brain Tumour Research Fellowship programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered using brain tumour research funding announced in 2018 to fund an increase in the speed of research into new treatments.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In May 2018 the Government made a commitment to spend £40 million on brain cancer research. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), directly invested £11.8 million in research projects and programmes focused on brain tumours. The NIHR has also invested approximately £37.5 million in research infrastructure to support the delivery of 261 brain tumour research studies and to enable over 11,400 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain tumour research.

The Government is working closely with the patient and researcher communities to provide new funding opportunities for novel brain tumour research and is stimulating high-quality research applications through: establishing a national Brain Tumour Research Consortium to bring together researchers from different disciplines to drive scientific advancements in how to prevent, detect, manage, and treat brain tumours; a dedicated funding call for research into wraparound care and rehabilitation for people living with brain tumours; and a partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to fund the next generation of researchers through the Allied Health Professionals Brain Tumour Research Fellowship programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has provided for brain tumour research in each year since 2018.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - 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 each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is one of NIHR’s largest areas of spend at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal towards efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment and outcomes.

The following table shows the amount of new funding provided for brain tumour research per financial year: