Diolch, and thank you to Members for bringing forward this very important debate. I think one thing we can all agree on is that cancer needs to be a priority for any Government, given the number of people affected by cancer, as David Rees said in his introduction, and of course the often devastating impact of a diagnosis and the wider impact on our NHS. 

Members will be aware that we've had a cancer delivery plan in place since 2014. This has a significant focus on earlier detection, and we have for some time met the World Health Organization's call for its members to have in place a cancer control programme. But you will be aware, and several of you have referred to this today, that a number of national disease-specific plans are due to come to an end in December this year, and we've been giving significant attention to what should replace them. So, I am pleased to confirm today, perhaps somewhat earlier than intended, that the Minister has asked officials to press ahead with developing a successor approach to the cancer delivery plan. The Minister has also asked for the successor approach to heart disease and stroke to be developed and, for those other plans coming to an end in December, that a one-year extension is granted in order that we can phase in successor arrangements. So, I'm pleased to be able to respond to you with that information today.

An important consideration has been the development of a number of commitments in 'A Healthier Wales' that have implications for how we approach improving outcomes for major conditions such as cancer. These include the development of the NHS executive, the national clinical framework, the quality plan and the introduction of quality statements. It's very important that these commitments link together robustly in the context of cancer so that we can deliver improvements in services and outcomes at a greater pace and with greater impact in the years ahead.

It will be the case that the successor approach to the cancer delivery plan will have an enhanced focus on the earlier detection of cancer. The current plan recognises that earlier detection is likely to improve survival—and lots of Members have made that point today. The two key components of this primary care referral practice and access is access to diagnostic care. We have significant amounts of activity in place targeted at these two components, but we want to go further and faster in the years ahead. It's been very pleasing to hear the praise of the Neath Port Talbot rapid diagnostic centre here today, and the dramatic drop in the waiting time. 

We also want to ensure our screening—