Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure integrated care boards publish data on funding for children’s hospices.

Palliative care services, including for children, are included in the list of services that integrated care boards (ICBs) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including children’s hospices, also play in providing support to children who require palliative care and end of life care, and their loved ones.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. 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 care and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area. It is for ICBs to determine whether they publish their funding data.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The allocations for 2024/25 are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hospices-receive-multi-million-pound-boost-to-improve-facilities

The allocations for 2025/26 are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/75-million-boost-for-hospices-to-transform-end-of-life-care

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant.

In 2024/25 and 2025/26, this funding was administered via ICBs in line with NHS devolution.