Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in reference to page 92 of the Women’s Health Strategy following the analysis of the call for evidence written evidence submission, what steps has his Department taken to encourage research on foetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevalence rates.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes applications for research into any aspect of human health, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, where selection criteria include importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.