Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate research into motor neurone disease.

The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and neurodegeneration, including motor neurone disease (MND). We are currently working on ways to significantly boost further research on dementia and neurodegeneration.

In 2019/20, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the Medical Research Council (MRC), spent around £13.4 million on Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research. This included research which aims to increase our understanding of the causes and genetic mechanisms of MND and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) a form of MND. Over 5 years (2015/16 - 2019/20) MRC expenditure relevant to MND and ALS totalled £45 million.

In addition, UKRI, through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, supports a diverse portfolio of neuroscience research and innovation totalling around £30 million per annum. This work may underpin MND research by furthering current understanding of the structure and function of the nervous system; cell biology and genetics; mental processes including learning and memory and neuro, Additionally, the Department of Health and Social Care has spent over £10 million on MND research over the past five years through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). In 2019/20 alone, the NIHR invested £2.7 million in MND research through NIHR research programmes and the NIHR Clinical Research Network.