To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on research into Down's syndrome in each of the last five years. (245856)

The available information is shown in the following table.

The Departmental figures relate to national research programme expenditure. They do not include the significant expenditure on Down's syndrome research from the research and development allocations that have over the last 10 years been made annually to national health service providers. That information is not held centrally.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support biomedical research. The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.