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Thalidomide Survivors

My hon. Friend raises a good point. The scheme is a pilot and there is no commitment at this stage to go beyond the pilot period. Let me say, however, that we are looking at whether we can create a situation in which it is clear from the pilot that there will need to be a Government decision about future funding and a continuation of that future funding. There is no commitment at the moment, but the evaluation is necessary to determine whether the project has been a success. If it has been, Ministers would, we hope, decide that it could continue. It will be a decision, however, for Ministers. They might want to wait a little less than three years, so that there can be an indication to the Thalidomide Trust of how funding can be developed in the longer term. However, there will need to be research in the meantime into how the money is being spent.