Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will remove the 31 March 2021 deadline by which charities and the voluntary sector must spend any grant funding received from the £750 million fund for frontline charities.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government has announced a £750 million support package for charities to enable vital work during the pandemic.
This includes up to £200m for hospices and £360 million direct from Government departments, supporting organisations like St John Ambulance and the Citizens Advice Bureau as well as charities supporting children, victims of domestic abuse, or disabled people.
£200 million is being distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund. More than 98% of this funding has been disbursed to recipient charities.
The Government has matched public donations to the BBC’s “Big Night In” charity appeal, with over £37 million being distributed by Comic Relief, Children In Need and the National Emergencies Trust to charities on the frontline.
The Government has also announced 19 philanthropists, foundations and grant-making organisations to receive a share of match funding from the £85 million Community Match Challenge, generating £170 million for charities’ vital work.
The government keeps all sector support packages under review
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of funding for hospices.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department recognises that the hospice sector has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that subsequent social distancing measures have affected some aspects of community fundraising. We regularly assess the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector and through NHS England and NHS Improvement are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. A range of steps have been taken to support hospices.
We have provided over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic. Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by Her Majesty’s Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan.
We continue to keep funding for hospices under review.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the future sustainability of the hospice sector.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department recognises that the hospice sector has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that subsequent social distancing measures have affected some aspects of community fundraising. We regularly assess the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector and through NHS England and NHS Improvement are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. A range of steps have been taken to support hospices.
We have provided over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic. Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by Her Majesty’s Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan.
We continue to keep funding for hospices under review.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional funding they plan to allocate to (1)hospice, and (2) palliative, care services in the next five years.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department recognises that the hospice sector has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that subsequent social distancing measures have affected some aspects of community fundraising. We regularly assess the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector and through NHS England and NHS Improvement are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. A range of steps have been taken to support hospices.
We have provided over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic. Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by Her Majesty’s Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan.
We continue to keep funding for hospices under review.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial viability of the hospice sector.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We have provided over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic. Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the replacement Job Support Scheme.
We continue to keep funding for hospices under review.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional funds they plan to provide for the hospice sector to handle the rising death rate (1) during, and (2) beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Hospices have been provided over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic.
Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the replacement Job Support Scheme.
The Department regularly assesses the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector, and through NHS England and NHS Improvement, are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. We continue to keep funding for hospices under review.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have put in place to financially support charitable hospice care providers; and what assessment they have made of the impact of visiting restrictions in hospitals on the level of demand experienced by such providers.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement regularly assess the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector and are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face.
Between April and July, £150 million in additional funding was provided to the hospice sector. Further funding of up to £125 million has now been made available to enable hospices to continue their vital end of life care services.
Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the replacement Job Support Scheme.
No specific assessment has been made of the impact of visiting restrictions in hospitals on the level of demand experienced by charitable hospice care providers.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on charitable hospice care providers.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement regularly assess the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector and are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face.
Between April and July, £150 million in additional funding was provided to the hospice sector. Further funding of up to £125 million has now been made available to enable hospices to continue their vital end of life care services.
Alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the replacement Job Support Scheme.
No specific assessment has been made of the impact of visiting restrictions in hospitals on the level of demand experienced by charitable hospice care providers.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of charity sector organisations having to stop delivering vital services in order to be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The purpose of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to support people who would otherwise have been made redundant. To prevent fraudulent claims, we made clear that individuals cannot work or volunteer for their organisation. This is to protect individuals too – if we allowed workers to volunteer for their employer, the employer could ask them to effectively work full time while only paying them 80% of the wages.
On 8 April the Chancellor announced a £750m support package for charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the Covid-19 crisis. This includes £360 million direct from Government departments. Up to £200 million is supporting hospices, with the rest supporting organisations like St John Ambulance and the Citizens Advice Bureau as well as charities supporting children, victims of domestic abuse or disabled people. £200 million is being distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund. The Fund closed to new applications on 17 August and £184m - 97% of the total fund value – had been awarded as of 13 October.
The Government also matched public donations to the BBC’s “Big Night In” charity appeal, with over £37 million being distributed by Comic Relief, Children In Need and the National Emergencies Trust to charities on the frontline. 100% of the Fund value of £34.4m was awarded as of 15 October.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the level of support available for hospices to respond to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hospices have played an important part in the Covid-19 response, supplementing NHS capacity as well as ensuring their valuable work caring for those towards the end of their lives continues.
The Department regularly assesses the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak on the hospice sector, and through NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I) is in discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. A range of steps have been taken to support hospices.
On 8 April 2020, the Chancellor announced funding of up to £200 million for hospices over three months as part of the wider £750 million funding package for the voluntary and charitable sector.
Alongside this, hospices benefited from the financial support offered by the Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and charity shops (which are already eligible for 80% charitable rate relief) will benefit from the new enhanced retail rate relief at 100%.
We continue to keep the impact of Covid-19 on hospices under review.