§ Sir John FarrTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what have been the amounts of public money spent on research into motor neurone disease in each of the past three years; and what plans there are to expand this research.
Mr. JacksonI have been asked to reply. The main agency through which the Government support medical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from the Department of Education and Science.
Funding from the Medical Research Council for research specifically into motor neurone disease over the past three years was:
£ 1985–86 219,235 1986–87 31,206 1987–88 137,682 In addition, the Medical Research Council, and to a smaller extent the Science and Engineering Research 355W Council, support a range of basic research which may be of relevance to motor neurone disease. Some support for research in this area is also provided through UGC block grants to universities.
The research councils determine their own scientific priorities. They are always willing to consider soundly based scientific proposals for funding in competition with other applications.