Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2024 to Question 23061 on Cancer: Health Services, what steps she is taking to ensure that NHS trusts have sufficient cancer treatment capacity to adequately support the number of people that are being diagnosed.

The Government has allocated an additional £8 billion across this Spending Review period, to increase capacity and support elective recovery. Cancer treatment levels are at a record high, with approximately 345,000 people having received their first cancer treatment in the twelve months to February 2024.

As outlined in the 2024/25 NHS England Planning Guidance, NHS England is providing over £266 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances, to support the delivery of the operational priorities for cancer.

We are expanding capacity through our community diagnostic centres (CDCs), supported by £2.3 billion of capital funding, with 160 CDCs currently operational and having delivered almost 8 million additional tests, checks, and scans, including vital cancer checks.