Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help ensure that research into the use of cannabis-based products for the treatment of children with epilepsy is adequately funded.

The Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is developing two randomised controlled trials into epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start in due course and results will be published once completed and peer reviewed. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including cannabis-based products for the treatment of children with epilepsy.