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Written question asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 30 June 2026. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 June 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.


Disability Aids: Research

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government who has ministerial responsibility for the development and take up by the NHS of devices included in the annual report on research and development work  required by section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Act 1970.

Answer

The report Research and development work relating to assistive technology: 2024 to 2025 is updated each year to reflect newly funded research. It is published annually in December, with data curated by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in collaboration with other Government funders.

The report is updated annually to cover developments in priority setting and funding, current and planned funding schemes, and national action plans or service changes to improve the use of assistive technology. It also includes recommendations to inform future assistive technology research and planned work arising from funded projects. The relevant Government funders are responsible for monitoring the projects listed in the report. Ministerial responsibility for monitoring and uptake sits with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety.

NIHR Open Data is a website managed by the NIHR, the research arm of the Department, to promote the transparency and accessibility of NIHR-funded research.

Since 2023, NIHR Open Data has hosted the Assistive Technologies dataset, which allows funded studies to be filtered by assistive technology research ‘focus areas’. The NIHR does not hold data on how many mobility products have been monitored or subsequently adopted by the National Health Service. The NIHR Open Data dataset is available as supplementary material to the statutory report and can be searched, filtered, and downloaded. Further information is available on the NIHR’s website.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL1007
Session
2026-27
Related items
Disability Aids: Research
Monday, 13 July 2026
Written questions
House of Lords
Disability Aids: Research
Monday, 13 July 2026
Written questions
House of Lords
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Disability aids Research
Legislation
Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk