Child cancer task force linked to Sophie's Legacy paused by government leaving mum and Gosport MP "devastated"

Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage pressed health secretary Wes Streeting over the decision, seeking assurances about the future of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which she chairs. The body was announced in February by the previous Conservative administration following campaigning by Charlotte Fairall, whose 10-year-old daughter Sophie, from Stubbington, died after she was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer known as rhabdomyosarcoma.

Mr Streeting said the task force has been paused while the government reviews the Department of Health and Social Care’s work to ensure “we have the right vehicles to deliver the outcomes that we want”. He pledged to meet Dame Caroline in a bid to “see what we can do together” on the issue. The task force’s aim is to improve the detection, treatment and care for children with cancer.

Sophie’s Legacy, founded by Ms Fairall in memory of her daughter, described the pause as a “devastating” decision but welcomed a chance to hold talks with the health secretary. Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Dinenage said: “The Secretary of State will know that cancer is the biggest cause of death by illness for children under 14 in the UK, and that this is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

“He won’t know that it is also the third anniversary of the death of my constituent, Sophie Fairall. She was 10 years old. It’s with Sophie’s mum, Charlotte, that I have been campaigning for the past three years for the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to be set up. The taskforce was set up at the beginning of this year with the stated aim of meaningfully changing the way that we detect, treat and care for children with cancer.

“I have listened carefully to (Mr Streeting) and have heard him passionately set out that he wants to focus on prevention and early intervention, yet this month … we learned that he is pausing the task force. Parents of children with cancer and myself are deeply disturbed by this announcement. I wonder if he can set out why?”

Mr Streeting sent his condolences to Sophie’s family and thanked Dame Caroline for her campaign work. He said: “The pause is because we want to make sure that, as we look at the breadth of the work of the department, we’ve got the right vehicles to deliver the outcomes that we want to see. That is why we have paused, rather than cancelled, slammed or criticised, the work that she was doing.

“I would be delighted to meet her to talk about the genesis of the task force and how we can take forward the outcomes that she wants to see. What we are trying to avoid is a plethora of task forces, and the risk that we’ve sometimes seen – and this is not a party political point, because this spans successive governments – of task forces being an alternative for action. I know that she wants to see action, so let us meet and see what we can do together.”

Sophie’s Legacy, writing on social media platform X, said: “I look forward to meeting with @wesstreeting to move this forward. It’s about time changes were made and the task force can provide this.” Sophie passed away in September 2021. When she was dying, she decided to make a bucket list of wishes to make hospitals a better place for children. She made her mum, Charlotte Fairall, promise that she would try her best to make these changes for the better - thus the charity was born. The organisation supports local families whose children end up in hospital.