asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the clinical and public service implications of the remarks of Professor Nicholas Fisk of Imperial College, London, on (a) the survival rates of patients treated with cord blood compared to those given bone marrow transplants; (b) the validation of cord blood as a first-line treatment for leukaemia; and (c) the size of public cord blood banks in the United Kingdom and their capacity. [HL4292]

The recent finding that stem cell transplantation using umbilical cord blood is comparable to unrelated bone marrow transplantation for treating leukaemia is encouraging. The Government and NHS Blood and Transplant are monitoring these developments extremely carefully. The Government accepted the findings of the United Kingdom Stem Cell Initiative in 2005 and announced investment of over £100 million to 2008 to develop stem cell therapies. Further investment in all forms of stem cell research will be kept under review in the future spending rounds.

NHS Blood and Transplant is developing strategic and business plans for the funding and development of the British Bone Marrow Registry and the Cord Blood Bank beyond 2009. These are due to be submitted to the department in the autumn of this year.