Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce guidance for public health research funders to ensure a geographical distribution of funding.

The Department funds health and care research via its research operational arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), across England. The Department is committed to ensuring that research is inclusive and representative of the population geographically and demographically. Inclusion is one of the top four priorities for the NIHR, reported against publicly in the NIHR Annual Report.

From November 2024, the Department made inclusion a condition of NIHR funding for all domestic research awards. All applicants must demonstrate how their research will address existing inequalities including place-based inequalities in health and social care, and researchers will be held to account for delivering on their plans. Application guidance for our expectations for inclusive research can be found at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/funding-application-guidance

The NIHR also published Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter in 2021 which identified seven areas of strategic focus, one of which was bringing more research to under-served regions. Subsequently, the NIHR published a Research Inclusion Strategy (2022 – 2027) which includes reaching underserved geographic communities. Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/best-research-best-health-next-chapter