Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Care of 13 January 2025, Official Report, column 128, if he will undertake a review of the distribution of hospice funding.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are working at great pace to get this year’s funding to hospices as soon as possible, including having regular discussions involving NHS England and Hospice UK. We are currently finalising the delivery mechanisms and are pleased that Hospice UK stands ready to distribute the money to local hospices throughout England.

We are also providing an additional £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. We are aware that the shift to an integrated care board (ICB) transacted model for 2024/25 was not as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. We are working closely with NHS England so planning for 2025/26 is improved.

NHS England is currently making decisions on the allocation and administration mechanisms for the £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26 and hopes to communicate plans to the sector later this month.

Although palliative and end of life care is mostly provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each area. Therefore, there are no current plans to undertake a review of the distribution of hospice funding.

Neither the Department nor NHS England believe that publishing a consultation on the distribution of hospice funding is necessary, but both organisations are in regular discussions with key hospice sector stakeholders on this issue.

Earlier this month, I met the major palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders when long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.