Important Statement by Secretary of State Health and Social Care – 5th September

On September 5th 2022 the following statement was made in Parliament, transcribed in Hansard by the outgoing Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay.

Today I have laid before the House a written ministerial statement on further work that we have been doing over the summer, and I want to draw the House’s attention to one particular feature in that statement which has garnered interest in the House in the past. In November 2021, the Government announced it would make £50 million of funding available for research into motor neurone disease over five years. Following work over the summer between my Department and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and UK Research and Innovation, to support researchers to access funding in a streamlined and coordinated way, we are pleased to confirm that this funding has now been ring-fenced. The Departments welcome the opportunity to support the MND scientific community of researchers as they come together through a network and linked through a virtual institute.

I commend this statement to the House.

Steve Barclay – Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – 5th September 2022

We very much welcome this statement and in particular the confirmation that the funds will be ring fenced for MND and that they will supported through the concept of the Virtual Institute that we have campaigned for along with our leading researchers, patients and charities.

Of course, we must continue to monitor the delivery of the funding and the research work packages, but this is an amazing step forward from where we were at the beginning of the year. The ring fencing of the funds under the management of a virtual Institute is crucial to accelerating this work.

This statement acknowledges the pressure that Ministers have faced from MPs – this has happened because so many people living with MND and their carers, families and friends have written to and met with their MPs. We’ve done it!

Well done everyone!

This is indeed great news!

You can currently watch the statement here from 6 minutes 38 seconds into his speech.