As we head into May it’s a good time to update on where we are with the funding for the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium. We know the appetite amongst you all is obviously for the speediest deployment of the money and what follows is based on very recently received information from Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care and CEO of the NIHR. The quotes are hers from a letter sent to the Chair of our APPG, Dame Siobhain McDonagh.
The context here is that in December 2025, the NIHR announced an initial £13.7 million investment in the Brain Tumour Research Consortium. In January 2026, the NIHR announced further investment of a minimum of £11.7 million through funding of work packages associated with the Consortium.
This brings the total expected investment to over £25 million.
“The NIHR is working to ensure that all new investments can get up and running as soon as possible. We are balancing the need for timely progress with the requirement to complete comprehensive due diligence processes, which are essential with such significant investments.”
An initial payment was made to the host institution (The Royal Marsden) in December 2025 to support start-up activities for the Consortium.
For the associated work packages of the Consortium, ‘intent to fund’ letters were issued in December 2025. These outline DHSC's intent to award funding upon acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in the Research Contract.
“We would typically expect contracting to take several (sometimes up to 6-8) months from the intent to fund letters, with the timeline driven by the host institution and their internal processes as much as the NIHR; we are expecting this timeframe to be condensed for the Consortium.”
Payments will be issued over the period of the award contracts, which range from 5-10 years, as per the schedule of payments agreed between NIHR and the Consortium to reflect the work undertaken.
It is our intention as the secretariat provider for the APPG to work closely with Dame Siobhain to scrutinise the progress to full deployment of all monies available for research purposes and push for it to be expedited with the urgency required. We will always report back to you with updates and news as received.
It is also worth us restating that this money is not the ceiling for research funding – we want, deserve and will campaign for more.
Health Minister Baroness Merron’s answer, published on 29th April, to a question from a previous Health Minister, Lord Kamall, is also relevant and you can read the exchange in full here.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Health Research Authority (HRA) are introducing the largest package of reforms in over 20 years.
The reforms will make it simpler to start lower-risk studies, strengthen support for early-stage research and embrace new approaches, including use of early safety data from overseas studies meeting UK standards and computer model simulations. These can help to predict how new medicines may behave before they are tested in patients.
The regulators are also making progress toward more streamlined and efficient approvals, with a goal of reducing clinical trial set-up times to 150 days as part of its 10-year plan for the NHS. Dr Zubir Ahmed, Health Innovation and Safety Minister, who we have already engaged with at our APPG, said:
“This is a landmark moment for patients, researchers, and our thriving life sciences sector that will make a real, tangible difference for thousands of people waiting for new treatments.”
We look forward to talking with Minister Ahmed again soon and being able to bring you news of “real, tangible differences” for brain tumour patients.
All details on this news are here.
Thank you all for the questions you have sent in for us to ask of Minister Hodgson when she joins our APPG meeting at the beginning of June (see 17th April’s update for details). We have been overwhelmed with correspondence from all four corners of the UK – we will make your representations known and communicate your frustrations as well as your hopes for the future. Thank you again.
Joining the Parliaments in Holyrood and Cardiff, the Westminster Parliament is now prorogued. It will return for the State Opening of Parliament, during which the King’s Speech will be delivered, on Wednesday 13th May.
There won’t be an update next week as we digest the results of the elections taking place across the UK on 7th May, but we will be back with a campaigning update on Friday 15th May, and we wish all of you a peaceful time until then.
Karen, Hugh, Katherine and Jana
