Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria the NIHR use to make funding decisions in the event of a tiebreaker.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) does not use location as a formal tie-breaker criterion in assessment. In the instances of a tie break scenario, the NIHR will typically use strategic fit to make a decision. The NIHR does, however, use 'Working with people and communities' and 'Inclusive research' as part of its assessment criteria, and as part of determining strategic fit, funding committee’s consider aspects such as location. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/research-funding/application-support/domestic-funding-programmes-assessment-criteria