Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support financial provision for hospices.

We have provided a £125 million capital funding boost for eligible adult, and children and young people’s, hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

We are also providing £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices in England over the next three financial years, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting integrated care boards to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.  Officials are working closely with a number of stakeholders from the hospice sector in the development of the MSF.