Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase funding for research on children suffering from long covid.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). We have invested more than £50 million into research projects for Post-COVID-19 Syndrome. Of this £38.6 million has been allocated through two specific research calls. The first of these was jointly funded by the NIHR and UK Research and Innovation, with approximately £1.36 million awarded to the CLoCk Study, led by University College London, examining the long term effects of COVID-19 infection in children and young people. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Post COVID-19 Syndrome in children.