Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of NHS funding for palliative and end-of-life care in England; and whether he plans to take steps to reduce the reliance of hospice and palliative care providers on charitable funding.

The Prime Minister and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have made clear their commitment to improve the quality and availability of palliative and end-of-life care through a new modern service framework (MSF), as set out in the answer of 14 September to Question 27682.

The MSF will support a shift towards strategic, population-based commissioning that is centred on clear and transparent contractual arrangements for commissioned palliative care and end-of-life care activity across all providers, including hospices. It will enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to plan and deliver services based on a clear understanding of local need, including underserved and disadvantaged groups.

In June 2026, ahead of the MSF’s publication, NHS England set out that it expects 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. We are asking ICBs to move to sustainable contracting of hospice services, based on this integrated needs assessment, and with a clear focus on improving equity of access through commissioning.