Dame Caroline Dinenage, Member of Parliament for Gosport and former Minister met with Claire Coutinho MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Children, Families & Wellbeing at the Department of Education to urge the Minister to improve educational support for children and young people undergoing treatment for, or recovering from, cancer.
Children diagnosed with cancer are likely to have reduced educational outcomes due to prolonged absences and the impact of treatment. Yet there is little government evidence on the long-term implications of this, or any standard plans in place to mitigate this.
Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCPs) which describe the educational needs of young people and support needed are currently not universal for children with cancer, and Local Authorities are inconsistent in their provision.
Caroline has previously met with the Education Advisory Service and the Little Princess Trust, who described the prohibitive impact that a lack of EHCPs can have on children with cancer. Caroline previously raised this as an oral question in the House of Commons Chamber to the Minister for Schools, the Rt Hon Nick Gibb.
In the meeting, Caroline asked the Minister for amendments to Local Authority Guidelines when considering EHCPs, and for a report to be published by the Department of Education to assess the long-term impact of a cancer diagnosis on educational outcomes.
This comes as part of Caroline’s campaign for a Childhood Cancer Mission alongside her constituent Charlotte Fairall, from Stubbington, whose daughter, Sophie died aged just 10-years due to Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Speaking after the meeting, Caroline said:
“4,500 children are diagnosed with cancer every year, and even if their treatment is a success, this can cause significant disruption to their education and long-term attainment due to absences and the impact of treatment.
Provision of EHCPs can help to improve educational outcomes for children with cancer. I have asked the Minister to report on the impact of cancer on children’s educational outcomes, andto consider amending Local Authority Guidance on providing EHCPs.
Really pleased to see the Minister engage on this important subject.”
Dame Caroline previously served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Department of Education from May 2015 until June 2017, and as Minister of State in the Department for Health & Social Care from January 2018 until February 2020.
