Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue national guidance to reduce variation in children’s hospice funding between ICBs.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care and end-of-life care services, including children and young people’s hospice services, to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications to support ICBs in carrying out these duties. We will be refreshing the statutory guidance and service specifications later this year.

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 ICB area.

We have supported the hospice sector in England with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children and young people’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are also providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29, giving them the stability they need to plan ahead.

The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care in England, and we have recently published an interim update at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88

The MSF will embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on clear and transparent contractual arrangements for commissioned palliative care activity across all providers, including hospices, to meet population health needs, with explicit regard to reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged groups. We expect all ICBs to complete an integrated needs assessment, to gain a detailed understanding of their current and future population, including people of all ages with palliative care and end-of-life care needs. This is vital in order to commission the services to best meet that need, whilst providing the best value for money.