Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to prevent reductions in children’s hospice-at-home services.

We recognise the challenging financial situation facing many hospices due to a range of cost pressures, and we understand that some children and young people’s hospices are having to make difficult decisions about services.

However, to support the sector, the Government has provided a £125 million capital funding boost for adult, and children and young people’s, hospices in England and has secured approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over the three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, helping to provide greater financial certainty and stability.

Since the beginning of this year, NHS England has written twice to all integrated care boards requesting an update on the financial stability of hospices within their footprint and the steps being taken to mitigate risks as a matter of urgency. As part of the most recent request, in April, information was also gathered from Hospice UK to provide a rounded picture of the hospice sector. It is clear from all the returns received that there is a clear commitment from integrated care boards to work collaboratively with hospices and to understand any existing or potential impact of financial pressures, with clear steps being taken at a local level to mitigate risks to patients.

More widely, we are developing a Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care, and an interim update was published on 4 June in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:

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

As part of this work, we expect all integrated care boards 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.