To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure increased research into the causes and treatment of Type 1 diabetes, in the light of the report in the Lancet on the number of cases of childhood diabetes. [HL4270]

Both the department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) invest in diabetes research. Their combined total expenditure on the topic in 2007-08 amounted to some £51 million. That investment continues: the department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for example is currently providing infrastructure support for 21 studies specifically concerned with type 1 diabetes via the diabetes clinical research network formed in May 2006.

The usual practice of the NIHR and of the MRC is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Future levels of expenditure on diabetes research will be determined by the success of relevant bids for funding.