To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of collecting the data used to monitor progress against his Department’s cancer waiting time targets in 2007-08. (175573)

The Department is unable to give an estimate of the cost incurred by the national health service in monitoring the waiting times targets. The NHS is funded to provide cancer services, and monitor local delivery of those services within the targets in the NHS Cancer Plan (2000), but local NHS organisations are not required to report these costs centrally.