Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent changes in the level of public health funding on trends in the number of incidences of cancer.
The Government has made no specific assessment of any correlation between current levels of spending on public health and the incidence of cancer. In the period 2007 to 2016 (the latest year for which there is data) new registrations of cancer rose from 255,200 to 303,100, with the largest increases being in diagnoses of skin cancers (other than melanoma) and prostate cancer. The increases largely reflect the impact on incidence of an ageing population.
Since 2013 local authorities in England have taken the lead in commissioning a wide range of public health interventions, including a number with the potential to help prevent cancer, based on their own assessments of local needs. The Government is making available over £16 billion during the current five-year spending review period for use by local authorities exclusively on public health services, but by their nature such interventions may take some time to take full effect.
As well as prevention, improving the early diagnosis of cancer is a key priority for the Government. From next year people with suspected cancer will receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days. We have also announced a package of cancer measures that will radically improve the system and ensure that 55,000 more people survive cancer for at least five years every year from 2028.