Hospice Funding

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Monday 6th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by wishing the Minister and all noble Lords a happy new year. The Minister will know that most hospices are charitable, independent organisations, which the Government have recently thumped with increased costs through the rise in employer national insurance and the increase in the minimum wage, which, while welcome, also adds to costs. Will the announced increase in funding fully cover the costs that hospices will face from the rise in employer national insurance contributions and the increase in the national minimum wage? Instead of imposing extra taxes on hospices then giving them back some of the money that they will have paid due to the increase in national insurance, would it not have been better to exempt hospices and other health-related charities from the national insurance increases in the first place? Can the Minister also confirm that increasing the costs imposed on hospices and other health-related charities is not a deliberate attempt to drive out non-state providers?