Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's evaluation processes complement the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's International Recognition Procedure.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the processes that it uses, in the development of its recommendations on new medicines. The NICE will continue aiming to publish guidance on new medicines within 90 days of the receipt of a United Kingdom marketing authorisation, and is working closely with the Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, industry, and system partners to ensure that it is able to make timely recommendations on new medicines licensed through the International Recognition Procedure.