Labour pledges to end 'cancer commute' with new travel scheme for under 25s

'We will ensure that all children, regardless of background, have access to the best possible treatment and are supported every step of the way on their road to recovery'

Labour has pledged to end the “cancer commute” by creating a new travel scheme funded by the NHS for under 25-year-olds.

The party will earmark £5m towards what it will call the “Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund” and aim to make it available to young people regardless of parental income.

According to Cancer Research UK, there are around 4,450 new diagnoses of cancer among young people every year in the UK and treatment is delivered in specialist clinics called principal treatment centres (PTCs).

The charity CLIC Sargent estimates that parents spend an average of £600 a month of expenses related to their child’s treatment, including travel costs such as taxi fares, fuel, and train tickets.

Addressing Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, will tell delegates: “Childhood cancer already places a deep emotional and physical strain on families, without the extra worry of being able to afford expensive travel costs for treatment.

“We should be doing all we can to support these vulnerable children and their families when they need it most. We must make sure wealth never stands as a barrier to treatment,” he will add.

“Labour’s new commitment to a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund will provide the help that families need. We will ensure that all children, regardless of background, have access to the best possible treatment and are supported every step of the way on their road to recovery.”

Labour said the new fund will mean parents will be able to apply via an online system where families complete their travel distance information which will be verified by a health or social care professional.

It comes as Jeremy Corbyn is also set to unveil plans to extend parents’ accessibility to childcare in general with proposals to subsidise extra hours.

His commitment would see parents pay no more than £4 an hour for extra childcare on top of the 30 hours a week of free provision for all two, three and four-year-olds already promised by Labour.

Poorer parents would get free entitlement to the additional hours, Mr Corbyn will say in his leader’s speech at Labour’s conference on Wednesday.

Mr Corbyn will say the current “patchy support for childcare is holding back too many parents and families” and set out plans that could benefit more than a million children.

“Universal free high-quality childcare will benefit parents, families and children across our country,” he will say.