§ Earl Howeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Following the Budget announcement of additional funding of £200 million for clinical research over a four-year period and the further announcement that £100 million of this sum will be routed to the Medical Research Council through the Department of Health, what steps are being taken to ensure that the remaining £100 million will be made available to the council. [HL2568]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)In his Budget speech on 17 March the Chancellor confirmed that the combined budget for medical research and research and development within the National Health Service will rise and by 2008 will approach £1.2 billion a year. The Secretary of State for Health has announced additional funding for NHS research and development of £25 million each year for the next four years. The allocations to the research councils (including the Medical Research Council) by the Department of Trade and Industry are still to be announced.