Radiotherapy UK has joined 63 other cancer organisations through #OneCancerVoice, signing a joint letter calling on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to support Clive Jones MP’s Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill.
The letter highlights the importance of greater transparency and accountability in improving cancer care and delivering meaningful change for patients.
Alongside this, Radiotherapy UK continues to call for the re-establishment of the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG2) to strengthen national leadership and address inequalities in access to radiotherapy.
Read the letter below:
Read the letter below
27 October 2026
The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
Secretary of State for Health & Social Care
Department of Health & Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
Dear Secretary of State,
One Cancer Voice support for the Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill
We are writing as a coalition of cancer charities, to urge you to support Clive Jones MP’s Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill, which is scheduled for Second Reading in the House of Commons on 13 November.
The Government’s National Cancer Plan for England offers a truly ambitious vision for transforming the lives of millions of patients and families across the country. This Bill will help turn your ambitions into action, by putting cancer patients at its heart. It will champion a new era for reporting and accountability, ensuring that government action delivers tangible improvements for people affected by cancer.
The Bill would require the Secretary of State to report annually to Parliament on performance against specified measures relating to cancer prevention, diagnosis, patient experience and treatment, and on ensuring research and innovations deliver better outcomes for patients. It would also require the Government to commit to publishing future cancer strategies.
The Bill strongly supports and reinforces the ambitions set out in the Government’s National Cancer Plan for England. In particular, it aligns with Action 14, which recognises that “greater transparency will drive improvement”, and Action 21, which commits the National Cancer Board to publishing annual reports on progress and undertaking an in-depth three-year review.
Crucially, the Bill would place these welcome reporting commitments on a statutory footing, ensuring that progress against the National Cancer Plan is reported annually to Parliament. This is important because many of the commitments in the Plan are long term, for example those relating to research and innovation. In doing so, it would therefore ensure that not only this Government, but future governments, remain accountable for delivering improvements in cancer outcomes and maintaining a long-term strategic focus on cancer.
Annual reporting and parliamentary scrutiny would strengthen transparency and accountability, support continuous improvement across cancer services, including patients’ experience of care, and help sustain cross-party commitment to improving outcomes for people affected by cancer.
The Bill is practical, proportionate and uncontroversial. It creates no new rights or entitlements but instead provides a clear means for reporting progress and maintaining focus on delivery. As such, it represents an invaluable opportunity to underpin the ambitions of the National Cancer Plan and demonstrate a long-term commitment to improving outcomes for cancer patients.
We therefore hope that you will support the Bill and, in doing so, send a clear message to the millions of people affected by cancer that improving cancer outcomes remains a national priority.
Yours sincerely,
One Cancer Voice signatories
1. Rose Woodward, Founder & Patient Advocate, Action Kidney Cancer |
2. Jeannie Rigby, Chief Executive, Action on Bladder Cancer UK |
3. Helen Morement, DSc (hc), Chief Executive, AMMF – The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity |
4. Henry Braund MBE, CEO, Anthony Nolan |
5. Dr Sophie Castell and Ropinder Gill, Co-Chairs, Blood Cancer Alliance |
6. Helen Rowntree, CEO, Blood Cancer UK |
7. Zoe Davison, Director of Research and Information & Deputy CEO, Bone Cancer Research Trust |
8. Jodie Moffat, Director of Charitable Impact, Bowel Cancer UK |
9. Dr Helen Bulbeck, Director of Services & Policy, brainstrust – the brain cancer people |
10. Dan Knowles, CEO, Brain Tumour Research |
11. Claire Rowney, CEO, Breast Cancer Now |
12. Thalie Martini, Chief Executive, Breast Cancer UK |
13. Robin Pritchard, Co-Director, Cancer Care Map |
14. Michelle Mitchell OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Research UK |
15. Chris Walden, CEO, Cancer52 |
16. Jill Clark, Chair, CancerWatch |
17. Ashley Ball-Gamble, Chief Executive, CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association |
18. Natalie Haskell, CEO, CoppaFeel! |
19. Dr Charlotte Badescu, Trustee, Dianne Oxberry Trust |
20. Julie Dodds, Senior Director, Patient & Research Programmes, Follicular Lymphoma Foundation |
21. Tina Seymour, Chief Executive, Hope for Tomorrow |
22. Alison Railton, Director Policy & Public Affairs, Kidney Research UK |
23. Anna Jewell, Chair, Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce |
24. Fiona Hazell, Chief Executive, Leukaemia UK |
25. Pamela Healy, Chief Executive, Liver Cancer UK |
26. Claire Turner, CEO, Lobular Breast Cancer UK |
27. Ropinder Gill, Chief Executive, Lymphoma Action |
28. Steven McIntosh, Chief Partnerships Officer, Macmillan Cancer Support |
29. Laura Lee CBE, Chief Executive, Maggie’s |
30. Samantha Dixon, Chief Executive Officer, Make 2nds Count |
31. Susanna Daniels, Chief Executive Officer, Melanoma Focus |
32. Rachel Wallace, Chief Executive, Melanoma UK |
33. Liz Darlison MBE DL, Founder & CEO, Mesothelioma UK |
34. Laura Ashurst, Chair, METUPUK |
35. Dr Sophie Castell, CEO, Myeloma UK |
36. Zara Aitchinson, Chair of Board of Trustees, Neuroblastoma UK |
37. Nikie Jervis, Director of Support Services & Policy Lead, Neuroendocrine Cancer UK |
38. Cara Newton, Director of Brand and Income, North West Cancer Research |
39. Julie Child, Executive Director, Oracle Head and Neck Cancer UK |
40. Stewart O’Callaghan, CEO, OUTpatients |
41. Victoria Clare, CEO, Ovacome |
42. Cary Wakefield, CEO, Ovarian Cancer Action |
43. Paula Hanford, CEO, Pancreatic Cancer Action |
44. Diana Jupp, Chief Executive Officer, Pancreatic Cancer UK |
45. Nikki Barraclough, Chief Executive, Prevent Breast Cancer |
46. Oliver Kemp MBE, CEO of Prostate Cancer Research |
47. Laura Kerby, CEO, Prostate Cancer UK |
48. Sarah Quinlan MBE, Director, Radiotherapy UK |
49. Paula Chadwick, Chief Executive, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation |
50. Richard Davidson, CEO, Sarcoma UK |
51. Rhiannon Finnie, External Communications and Advocacy Lead, Shine Cancer Support |
52. Gail Jackson, Chief Executive, Solving Kids’ Cancer UK |
53. Sarah Gray, Director, Tackle Prostate Cancer |
54. Catherine Hart, CEO, Target Ovarian Cancer |
55. Jules Worrall, CEO, Teenage Cancer Trust |
56. Dr Michele Afif, CEO, The Brain Tumour Charity |
57. Athena Lamnisos, CEO, The Eve Appeal |
58. Dr Stephen Harden, President, The Royal College of Radiologists |
59. Rebecca Porta, Chief Executive, The Urology Foundation |
60. Rachael Hutson, CEO, World Cancer Research Fund International |
61. Kat Tucker, Deputy CEO, WMUK |
62. Dr Kathryn Scott, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Cancer Research |
63. Rachel Kirby-Rider, CEO, Young Lives vs Cancer |
64. Barbara Fountain, CEO & Founder, Young Tongues |