Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase national capacity in (1) cancer treatment units, and (2) radiotherapy units, in line with the increase in patients diagnosed with cancer.

NHS England Specialised Commissioning is the responsible commissioner for all radiotherapy services across England and so is responsible for setting evidence-based national service standards for radiotherapy, including service specifications, clinical commissioning policies, and the introduction of more centres and units for radiotherapy.

In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to cancer alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.