The Government has announced its intention to ring fence the Department of Health’s R&D budget and that the Secretaries of State for Health and Trade and Industry will create a single, jointly held health research fund of at least £1 billion per year. A consultation will be launched shortly in order to report on options to the Government in time for the 2006 Pre-Budget Report. Chapter 5 of the report "Science and innovation investment framework 2004-2014: next steps" provides more detail:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/1E1/5E/bud06_science_332.pdf