Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the proposals for changes to the arrangements for evaluating and funding drugs and other health technologies appraised through NICE's technology appraisal and highly specialised programmes, published on 13 October 2016, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of proposals for the introduction of a budget impact threshold on the level of inward investment into the UK life sciences sector.

We have made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England are consulting on the proposals and they are therefore subject to change. NICE and NHS England will assess the impact of the proposals in light of consultation responses.

Independent evidence suggests that the most important attraction for companies to invest in research in the United Kingdom is the availability of world-class scientific expertise, which is the focus of the Government’s effort to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global research and development.