Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the capital funding in support of the National Cancer Plan will be allocated; and what proportion of that funding will be spent on (a) diagnostic equipment and estate, (b) treatment capacity, i
Answer
As set out in our 10 Year Capital Plan, approximately £5 billion of capital will be invested to increase secondary and emergency care capacity, modernise facilities, and support service transformation over this Spending Review period. This will help drive the return to National Health Service constitutional waiting time standards and improve urgent and emergency care performance. The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, announced that £200 million in 2026 to 2027 has been ring fenced for Cancer Alliances to support them in making sustainable improvements to cancer delivery, as part of system development funding (SDF). Cancer SDF is comprised of two allocations: place-based, provided to all Cancer Alliances on a fair-shares basis for local population needs; and targeted, provided to Cancer Alliances for targeted projects, with amounts determined by agreed run rates. Cancer Alliances must demonstrate how their spending reduces disparities and improves access to care. Allocations for 2027/28 and 2028/29 remain subject to NHS England’s planning.
Verdict: RED (22/100)
The reply describes how a £200m cancer funding pot would be allocated across places and says it comes with accountability conditions, which partly answers the question about funding. It does not say what share of cancer capital goes to diagnostic equipment or estates, and it does not give a proportion for cancer treatment capacity, offering only a loose reference to general capacity investment. A member of the public would likely need to ask again for these specific figures.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the capital funding in support of the National Cancer Plan will be allocated. | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply gives a concrete allocation mechanism (place-based fair-shares plus targeted run-rate allocations within the £200m Cancer SDF, with accountability conditions), but this is system development funding that the reply never identifies as capital, and the £5bn capital figure in statement 1 is from the general 10 Year Capital Plan rather than being tied to the National Cancer Plan. |
| What proportion of that capital funding will be spent on diagnostic equipment and estate. | Not Addressed | Generic | Nothing in the reply gives or refers to any proportion of cancer capital funding going on diagnostic equipment or estate; the only related mention is a general reference to modernising facilities in statement 1. |
| What proportion of that capital funding will be spent on treatment capacity. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | Statement 1 mentions investment to increase secondary and emergency care capacity, which is loosely related to treatment capacity, but it gives no proportion of cancer capital funding and the figure covers general capacity rather than cancer treatment specifically. |