Question reference: S5W-36000
- Asked by: Tom Mason, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 5 May 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided for research on (a) strokes, (b) heart disease, (c) cancer, (d) hearing loss and (e) sight loss in each year since 2016.
Answer
Funding provided by the Scottish Government (Chief Scientist Office) for research falls into three broad areas of activity, i.e. research studies, capacity building and supporting infrastructure. The specific amounts provided by condition are set out below although it should be noted that research studies (funded by non-commercial and third sector organisations) would also have benefited from the provision of service support costs and other generic resources which are not routinely recorded by condition.
Research Grants/Scheme
Chief Scientist Office supports response mode grant committees and a small catalytic grants scheme (2016-19). The committees which comprise independent experts as well as public representatives consider applications across broad research remits to address health and care challenges in Scotland. Applications are subject to independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by the committees. It should be noted that funding rounds were significantly impacted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which saw a significant research response.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| (a) stroke | £85,339 | £865,540 | £645,018 | £920,831 | £0 |
| (b) heart disease | £766,921 | £248,008 | £312,147 | £55,649 | £0 |
| (c) cancer | £1,788,652 | £1,718,367 | £584,977 | £979,022 | £299,412 |
| (e) sight | £0 | £31,226 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
Capacity Building
Over period 2016-2020 a number of capacity building schemes were active. Each scheme has separate Panels which consider applications.
The funding awarded for relevant projects is shown below:
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| (a) stroke | £213,517 | £0 | £289,810 | £0 | £0 |
| (b) heart disease | £37,000 | £20,000 | £142,252 | £144,278 | £70,000 |
| (c) cancer (including cancer prevention research) | £533,000 | £268,990 | £766,111 | £713,000 | £676,935 |
| e) Sight loss | £0 | £60,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
No projects were recommended for funding by Capacity Panels over the period 2016-2020 in the area of (d) hearing loss.
Infrastructure
Dedicated infrastructure support which was open to all eligibly funded research studies was as follows:
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| (a) stroke | £598,000 | £604,000 | £616,000 | £616,000 | £616,000 |
| (b) heart disease | £62,000 | £64,000 | £64,000 | £66,424 | £66,424 |
| (c) cancer | £442,000 | £447,000 | £456,000 | £456,000 | £456,000 |
| (d) hearing loss | £356,152 | £342,651 | £391,752 | £394,924 | £398,924 |
| e) Sight loss | £12,000 | £14,000 | £14,000 | £14,404 | £14,404 |