Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to make the UK more competitive for commercial liver cancer trials, including tackling logistical and regulatory barriers.

The Government has delivered a step change in clinical trial set-up and delivery by cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, standardising processes and freeing up workforce capacity.

Streamlined trials improve patient outcomes and accelerate access to and development of new medicines and therapies, including treatments for liver cancer, while driving global investment into life sciences.

Data published on 21 October shows that the Government has met its target to reduce the time it takes to set up a commercial clinical trial to 150 days or less, as set out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan. The average set-up time for commercial clinical trials in the United Kingdom dropped to 100 days in the three months to March this year, down from 153 in the same period last year. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-clinical-research-delivery-key-performance-indicators-data-to-september-2026/uk-clinical-research-delivery-key-performance-indicators-data-to-september-2026

The National Cancer Plan for England includes a dedicated chapter on research and innovation, setting out actions to improve access to clinical trials and accelerate the set-up and delivery of cancer clinical trials.