Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the difference in funding levels is for research into (a) lobular and (b) ductal breast cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.
The level of funding for research generally depends on funding applications received. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including lobular cancer and ductal breast cancer.
The Department of Health and Social Care has invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre from 2022 to 2027, supporting their research on cancer and lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research including, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, again including lobular breast cancer.
Current NIHR funded research into breast cancer covers aspects of prevention, detection, treatment and follow-up care, which are relevant to both lobular and ductal breast cancer. Of 29 currently active studies, totalling £49.54m in funded awards, there is currently one active study designed to look at the impact of screening on ductal breast cancer diagnosis and treatment specifically.
On 4 February 2025, the Department announced that nearly 700,000 women across the country will take part in a world-leading trial to test how cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools can be used to catch breast cancer cases earlier. The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health (EDITH) trial is backed by £11 million of Government support via the NIHR.
The Department of Health and Social Care recognises that further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and disease processes of cancer, including lobular and ductal breast cancer, to unlock pathways for developing new treatments. This type of discovery research is supported by the Medical Research Council, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, via UK Research and Innovation, though funding decisions are made independently from Government.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase funding for research into lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.
The level of funding for research generally depends on funding applications received. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including lobular cancer and ductal breast cancer.
The Department of Health and Social Care has invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre from 2022 to 2027, supporting their research on cancer and lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research including, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, again including lobular breast cancer.
Current NIHR funded research into breast cancer covers aspects of prevention, detection, treatment and follow-up care, which are relevant to both lobular and ductal breast cancer. Of 29 currently active studies, totalling £49.54m in funded awards, there is currently one active study designed to look at the impact of screening on ductal breast cancer diagnosis and treatment specifically.
On 4 February 2025, the Department announced that nearly 700,000 women across the country will take part in a world-leading trial to test how cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools can be used to catch breast cancer cases earlier. The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health (EDITH) trial is backed by £11 million of Government support via the NIHR.
The Department of Health and Social Care recognises that further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and disease processes of cancer, including lobular and ductal breast cancer, to unlock pathways for developing new treatments. This type of discovery research is supported by the Medical Research Council, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, via UK Research and Innovation, though funding decisions are made independently from Government.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to replace animal testing in the development of (a) monoclonal antibody therapies and (b) other drugs with more effective human-specific methods.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Regulatory approval processes already permit human-specific methods for drug testing where humans are the only relevant pharmacological species and the drug’s mechanism of action is well-defined and clinical monitoring is in place. This can include monoclonal antibody (mAbs) therapies. Where animals are still required for mAb testing, the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) collaborates with industry and regulators to minimise their use. (https://nc3rs.org.uk/our-portfolio/re-evaluating-need-mab-chronic-toxicity-studies)
The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and adoption of alternatives later this year, including any targets to phase out specific animal testing.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to phase out the LD50 toxicity test as an initial step to end animal testing.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.
Significant progress has been made on validating alternative methods, including the possibility of replacing mice by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines.
The implementation of new tests for existing products must protect and prioritise human safety, often requiring extensive validation. It is not presently possible to replace all of the existing animal tests with in vitro non-animal replacements.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding through UK Research and Innovation for the validation of non‑animal new approach methodologies to help replace the use of dogs in safety testing; and if he will make it his policy to ring‑fence funding for human‑relevant, animal‑free technologies.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has a diverse portfolio of investments that supports research which can lead to alternatives, such as organ-on-a-chip, cell-based assays, functional genomics and computer modelling. UKRI also invests £10 million annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) and is conducting a five-year funding review to guide future investment in this area.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of transitioning to animal free medical research methods on the economy.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will consider economic impacts.
Home to world leading research and pharmaceutical businesses, the UK is well positioned to capitalise on the global non-animal technologies for life sciences market, estimated to be worth $29.4 billion by 2030, and on the scientific and economic advantages of more human-relevant methods applied in product development and testing.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to increase funding for the development of non-animal human-relevant testing methods.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are considering funding into alternatives for animal testing as part of the Spending Review and cannot commit funding amounts in advance of this process.
The Government already invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to accelerate the development and adoption of 3Rs approaches. The NC3Rs is currently undergoing a five year funding review that will determine future allocation of resources. A significant amount of research funding in the UK also goes to underpinning technologies that have the potential to deliver the 3Rs.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the Counter Disinformation Data Platform does not restrict freedom of speech.
Answered by Feryal Clark
DSIT uses the Counter Disinformation Data Platform (CDDP) in accordance with relevant existing UK legislation, including on data protection and human rights.
DSIT officials use the platform to analyse disinformation narratives and trends from publicly available information online relating to risks to national security and public safety, which is a remit set by ministers. In line with the role of government and DSIT’s compliance policies, the CDDP is not used to restrict freedom of expression.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what (a) themes and (b) trends will be monitored by the Counter Disinformation Data Platform.
Answered by Feryal Clark
DSIT uses the Counter Disinformation Data Platform (CDDP) in accordance with relevant existing UK legislation, including on data protection and human rights.
DSIT officials use the platform to analyse disinformation narratives and trends from publicly available information online relating to risks to national security and public safety, which is a remit set by ministers. In line with the role of government and DSIT’s compliance policies, the CDDP is not used to restrict freedom of expression.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purposes the Food Standards Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is using AI, both traditional and generative, for a range of purposes. Using traditional AI, we have focused on pattern detection for food risk identification using, and developing, approaches to extract and structure information contained in documents, from shipping manifests to webpages. We aim to see food safety and authenticity risks before the food lands on the United Kingdom’s shores.
For generative AI, we are piloting its use in our front-line services in the field by using mobile based AI applications. The goal of this is to streamline our inspection of meat businesses by having AI help collate notes during the inspection process, which will allow uniformity in reporting and improve data quality. We aim for this to improve the existing method, which involves inspectors carrying large amounts of equipment while taking written, paper-based, observations.
We have also deployed generative AI tools to improve data quality. As most data from national and international food alert systems is unstructured text, considerable human effort has been required to extract the relevant information and then categorise it to a standardised format. The aim is to reduce the manual work required in improving data quality, which will allow colleagues to spend more time deriving insights from data rather than cleaning data, while also improving the speediness of the response.
The FSA can draw on a range of resources, published on the GOV.UK website, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan, and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
The FSA also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, for expert advice.