Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will increase the share of overall cancer research funding allocated to brain tumour research.

The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23.

The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists, rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Because of its importance, in May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM) through the NIHR. Since the 2018 announcement, the NIHR has committed £11.3 million across 16 projects. All applications that were considered to be of fundable quality, by scientific peer reviewers, have been funded. To increase the quality, diversity and number of brain cancer research proposals the NIHR is working with the TJBCM and the research community to develop research capacity in the brain cancer community.

There is still funding available from the original £40 million announced in 2018. We are committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research, and we expect to spend more as new research progresses.