§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the level of funding targeted by his Department on(a) the treatment of motor neurone disease and (b) research into motor neurone disease during 1999. [97790]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information is not available in the format requested. It is for health authorities and Primary Care Groups to plan and arrange the services available to people in their care.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) which receives most of its income via grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry funds medical research as part of the Government's funding of the science and engineering base.
The MRC funding for grants relating to motor neurone disease or to the function of motor neurones in general was almost £640,000 in 1998–99. The MRC also fund a considerable amount of basic underpinning research in the area such as nerve function and damage which is not included in this figure.