Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) young cancer patients and (b) their families in into employment.

NHS England is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. This is being delivered in line with the NHS Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer and maximise the potential of digital and community-based support.

The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce will be relaunched in 2025 to identify ways to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with cancer. We will set out further details on next steps in due course.

Access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key to supporting a successful return to work. We, therefore, have a range of specialist initiatives including support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual.

Employers also play a key role in supporting people with health conditions to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, Support with Employee Health and Disability service, a digital information service for employers, and the Disability Confident scheme.

The Department’s Youth Offer also provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.

To support unpaid carers to remain in work, DWP has launched Jobhelp, to provide advice and information, all in one place, to existing, new and potential unpaid carers to help them make informed decisions about combining work and care.