Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for children’s hospices in line with (a) inflationary pressures and (b) operational costs in future financial years.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications to support ICBs in this duty.

2023/24 was the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant. In 2024/25, however, NHS England provided an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of grant funding from 2023/24. This funding was distributed, for the first time, via ICBs, in line with National Health Service devolution.

We understand that, financially, times are difficult for many voluntary and charitable organisations, including children’s hospices, due to the increased cost of living. We want a society where these costs are manageable for both voluntary organisations, like hospices, and the people whom they serve.

I recently met NHS England, Together for Short Lives, and one of the chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All Party Parliamentary Group to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and this funding stream was discussed at length at that meeting.  NHS England is currently considering the future of this important funding stream beyond 2024/25.