Thank you, Llywydd. Just two days ago, on 14 November, we commemorated World Diabetes Day, and this year there's been the fantastic announcement by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Diabetes UK of a jointly funded early surveillance for auto-immune diabetes study, which is a trial screening programme for type 1 diabetes that has the potential to transform the way the condition is identified and managed in its earliest stages. This, the first programme of its kind in the UK, will aim to recruit 20,000 children aged between three and 13 and assess their risk of developing type 1 diabetes, laying the groundwork for the development of any potential UK-wide screening programme.

While type 1 diabetes is currently managed using insulin, there are new immunotherapy treatments on the horizon that could prevent or delay the condition. This study will be a vital component in helping to roll out those immunotherapies. The risk of type 1 increases with the number of different autoantibodies present in the blood. Those with two or more autoantibodies have an 85 per cent chance of chance of developing type 1 diabetes within 15 years, and it is almost certain that they will develop the condition in their lifetime. Therefore, this research will be life-changing for children found to be at high risk, because it will enable families to be vigilant for the warning signs of diabetic ketoacidosis, which if left untreated can be deadly.

Discovery of a propensity for type 1 diabetes also means that parents and children can be offered support and education, including information on symptoms and management, to help prepare them for the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Families will also be given the opportunity to be followed up in the long term, be given the opportunity to enable closer monitoring and, potentially, be given the opportunity to start insulin treatment sooner, which will help manage the condition.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved in designing and raising funds for this study, in particular Professor Parth Narendran, professor of diabetes medicine, and Dr Lauren Quinn, clinical research fellow at the University of Birmingham. Thank you.