§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what(a) Government and (b) private funds are available in this financial year for research into cancer (i) care and (ii) treatment, broken down by types of cancer; [38240]
(2) what assessment he has made of the percentage of (a) Government and (b) private research funding available for cancer (i) research and (ii) treatment in the last year for which figures are available; [38236]
(3) how many (a) organisations and (b) facilities receive Government funding for cancer research; and how they are distributed (i) in the UK and (ii) by region; [38238]
(4) what criteria are used to determine the percentage of research funding allocated to different types of cancer by Government; [38234]
(5) how much was spent in the last year for which figures are available by (a) Government and (b) private organisations on cancer (i) treatment and (ii) research. [38237]
§ Yvette CooperThe Government support health-related research, including for cancer, through three main routes. The Medical Research Council (MRC, which is funded via the Department of Trade and Industry) is the main agency through which the Government supports research on the causes and treatment of disease including cancer. Other research councils also contribute e.g. the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
The Department of Health meets the National Health Service (NHS) costs of MRC charity funded research. The Department of Health also directly funds research to support policy development in health and social care, and to support effective practice in the NHS.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE, funded via the Department of Education and Skills) funds the university academic base. In addition, the health and education departments of the devolved administrations make corresponding contributions.
The Department has estimated that the total Government expenditure on cancer research in 2000£01 was in the region of £190 million. The Department has estimated that expenditure on cancer research by charities in 2000–01 was approximately £180 million. Thus the amounts that the Government and the charities spent on cancer research were roughly equal. Some £500 million a year is spent by industry in the pharmaceutical and other sectors.
The Department's funding for cancer research is not provided by specific allocations. The amount that is eventually spent on cancer research in any one year is influenced by a number of factors including the scientific quality of proposals received and the relevance to NHS priorities and needs. It is therefore not possible to give a figure for Department of Health spend on cancer research in the current financial year. But in 2000–01, the Department's expenditure on cancer research was £83.8 million.
611WThe Department, its equivalents in the devolved administrations, and the MRC are members of the new National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), which is a partnership between government, charities and industry. The purpose of the NCRI is to streamline and accelerate the advancement of cancer research in the UK. The NCRI aims to do this by developing an overall strategy for cancer research in the UK and co-ordinating activities between member organisations.
Many hundreds of organisations and facilities, including NHS Trusts and universities receive Government funding for cancer research. Details of all research funded by the Department are available on the National Research Register (www.doh.gov.uk/research).
The NHS Cancer Plan also said that we will be investing an additional £20 million each year in the infrastructure for cancer research and an extra £4 million on prostate cancer research.
In 2000–01, resources for treatment included in general allocations to the NHS. The Department does not collect information that enables a figure to be calculated on the cost of services relating to the treatment of a particular disease.