Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce variation in bereavement support and (b) improve the adequacy of provision of that support throughout England.

The Government is taking a cross-Government approach to address bereavement support and help ensure that families and friends of those deceased get the support they need, particularly during this difficult time.

We are engaging with bereavement support organisations, the National Health Service and arm’s length bodies to assess how we can help make sure that there is adequate support available across England and reduce variation.

On 22 May, the Government announced £22 million of funding to life-saving health charities, £4.2 million of which will be used to support mental health charities and charities providing bereavement support.