Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) charitable hospices and (b) the voluntary sector on preparing for the potential financial impact of changes to staff pay.

Independent providers, such as charitable hospices and other voluntary sector organisations, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales that they use. For that reason, it is appropriate that negotiations relating to those pay scales and terms and conditions are conducted locally rather than nationally. NHS England has issued guidance on the financial impact of the 2023/24 NHS pay award which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/PRN00456-23-24-pay-award-revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance.pdf