On the last day of the current Parliamentary session, Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central has submitted a written question asking the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care why only £6 million of the £40 million in funding allocated for brain tumour research has been allocated to such research to date; and if he will make a statement. This is as a result of some fantastic lobbying work by one of our campaigning taskforce. We await the answer.
Yesterday the Government announced its Comprehensive Spending Review which influences their commitment to invest in R&D as part of the Life Sciences agenda.
Due to unprecedented uncertainty, the Chancellor did not fix a set spending envelope but confirmed that departments’ resource and capital budgets would grow above inflation.
Among the CSR’s priorities are “making the UK a scientific superpower.”
As the House goes into recess for the summer with these fine words ringing in their ears we will be making plans to hold Government to account over this as the status of scientific research is a bellwether for our return to being a well-functioning economy in the post COVID world.
As the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) said in a recent briefing: “There can be no doubt that medical research charities play a vital and unique role in our nation’s health and world-class life sciences sector. Unfortunately, their role is at significant risk. Medical research charities stepped up to support the country as the pandemic hit. Now it’s time for Government to step up and help reboot charity-funded research that saves and improves countless lives."
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