Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he had with the Welsh Government on the cross-border specialist healthcare network for children and young people with cancer and inequalities in access across the UK prior to the announcement of the travel fund for children and young people with cancer in the National Cancer Plan.

The Department knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families across the United Kingdom.

Through the National Cancer Plan, the Government is committing up to £10 million a year to a new fund open to all children and young people in England with cancer and their families regardless of income, to support them with the cost of travelling to and from treatment. This commitment sits alongside wider action to transform cancer care for children and young people.

Health is predominately devolved. However, the Department does work closely with our counterparts in the devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government, to share expertise and identify new opportunities to improve health and social care delivery across the UK.