Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce geographical variation in (a) funding and (b) performance between and within Cancer Alliances.

In 2018/19, the National Cancer Programme established the National Support Fund for Cancer Alliances. The purpose of the National Support Fund is to address geographical variation in the transformation funding bids submitted by Cancer Alliances in 2017/18. The Fund is being used by Cancer Alliances to:

- improve, and sustain, performance against the 62-day cancer waiting-time standard; and

- underpin delivery of the relevant 2018/19 Planning Guidance priorities in a consistent way across the country.

Alongside this, NHS England is providing an additional £10 million this financial year to improve and reduce variation in operational performance. This work will focus on:

- a nationwide initiative (particularly focused on urology) to grow capacity and support improvement activity across the county; and

- engaging with especially challenged areas to diagnose the root causes of their poor performance and to implement actions enabling the better management of additional patient demand.