Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of (a) the decision by NICE in May 2019 to enable people with spinal muscular atrophy to access new drugs and (b) enabling all people with relevant conditions to access those drugs; and if he will make a statement.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that the total budget impact for the National Health Service at list prices to make nusinersen available for the total population with spinal muscular atrophy has been projected to be £156 million. The actual budget impact is subject to a managed access agreement and a confidential commercial agreement between NHS England and NHS Improvement and the company.