Skcin (the Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity)

Skcin was founded in 2006 and works on skin cancer prevention and early detection across both melanoma and the keratinocyte cancers, running accreditation schemes for schools, nurseries, workplaces and outdoor venues.

Its most visible policy work is the VAT Burn campaign, which asks the government to reclassify SPF30 and above sunscreen as an essential healthcare item rather than a cosmetic subject to the standard 20 percent rate of VAT. The campaign page cites research conducted for Tesco with Skcin in 2021 in which 57 percent of the UK population considered sunscreen expensive, 31 percent of parents said they could not always afford it for the whole family and 44 percent said they put it on their children but not on themselves or their partner because of the cost. It also publishes the government's reply: that VAT brings in vital public funds, that changing it for an individual product involves a trade-off, and that sunscreen is available to some on prescription. The exchange is worth reading beside NICE PH32, which excluded fiscal and legislative actions, including reducing VAT on sunscreen, from its remit entirely.