Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's press release dated 28 August 2014, entitled Thousands more patients to benefit from additional £160 million for cancer drugs, whether the funding referred to (a) is new funding for medicines or (b) has been diverted from the purchase of other medicines.

The additional £160 million that we announced on 28 August 2014 represents an increase to the budget of the Cancer Drugs Fund from £200 million to £280 million per year. This increase has come from reprioritisation within the existing National Health Service budget for England.