Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding provisions are being put in place for hospice care, in the context of rising costs of living and changing needs of the staff.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

We understand the financial pressures faced by the hospice sector which is why we are supporting eligible adult, and children and young people’s hospices in England with a £100 million capital funding boost to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

Additionally, we are also providing £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26 and have also recently confirmed the continuation of this vital funding of at least £26 million, as it will be adjusted for inflation, each year from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

On hospice staff-related costs specifically, independent organisations, such as charities and social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including pay scales. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate.

In the long term, through our Modern Service Framework (MSF), we hope that, by supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. This would be more sustainable and help hospices plan ahead.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House.