Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of implementing NHS pay rises for all hospice staff in line with Agenda for Change pay scales.

Hospices, as independent organisations, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including pay scales and, therefore, it is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate and how to recoup any additional costs they face if they choose to utilise the terms and conditions of NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract.

NHS England uprates national allocations in line with the pay rises for integrated care boards (ICBs). It is down to the local contractual arrangements whether this includes the increases for pay rises or not, which will help to determine what the hospice can afford. So, there is no single model which is consistent across England.

Additional funding for 2026/27 Pay Review Body awards will be provided to reflect the final pay award through an increase to ICB allocations and NHS Payment Scheme prices. Full guidance will be available in due course.