Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps heis taking to improve the outcomes for people with cancer; and if he will make a statement.

The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020, in July 2015 and it represented the consensus views of the whole cancer community. The Government has accepted all 96 recommendations in the strategy, and implementation is being led by NHS England’s National Cancer Transformation Board. An implementation plan, Taking the strategy forward, was published in May 2016 and the first annual report, One Year On, was published in October 2016 in which NHS England confirmed funding of over £600 million to support delivery of the strategy. In December 2016, NHS England confirmed that £200 million of this funding will be used over the next two years to set up a fund to encourage local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier, improve the care for those living with cancer and ensure each cancer patient gets the right care for them. Cancer Alliances are being asked to bid for a share of this funding.