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 UK hospice sector.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government recognises the funding challenges facing the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and March 2021 £280 million of additional funding has been made available to hospices to secure capacity and free up acute care as part of the National Health Service response to COVID-19. Alongside this, hospices have benefitted 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.
No assessment has been made of the financial viability of United Kingdom hospices. Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that receive some statutory funding, mainly from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for providing local services. CCGs are responsible for the planning and commissioning of high-quality services that meet the needs of their local population.
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 statement by the Sue Ryder charity, published on 31 January, on the funding challenges facing the UK hospice sector.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government recognises the funding challenges facing the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and March 2021 £280 million of additional funding has been made available to hospices to secure capacity and free up acute care as part of the National Health Service response to COVID-19. Alongside this, hospices have benefitted 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.
No assessment has been made of the financial viability of United Kingdom hospices. Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that receive some statutory funding, mainly from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for providing local services. CCGs are responsible for the planning and commissioning of high-quality services that meet the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been allocated to hospices in England in each relevant budget year since the start of covid-19 related expenditure; and what the consequential allocations to each devolved Administration were.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In 2020/21 we have made available an additional £280m to hospices in England as part of the COVID-19 response.
Of this, £31m was funded by the Department for Health and Social Care from existing budgets (on which the devolved administrations have already received Barnett consequentials) and £249m was new funding confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2020-21.
The £249m new funding generated £47m in Barnett consequentials for the devolved administrations at Supplementary Estimates 2020-21. This comprised £24m for the Scottish Government, £15m for the Welsh Government and £8m for the Northern Ireland Executive.
It is up to the devolved administrations to allocate this funding across their devolved responsibilities as they see fit, including to hospices.
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: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to hospices in (a) Darlington and (b) England (i) during the covid-19 outbreak and (ii) over winter 2020-21.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector was made available between April and July. This will be used to enable hospices to provide more capacity for step down and community care alongside their existing palliative and end of life services.
Further funding of up to £125 million has now been announced in the COVID-19 Winter Plan, published 23 November.
Funding allocation is led by NHS England and NHS Improvement. NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that St Teresa’s Hospice in Darlington received £424,579 between April and July this year. St Teresa’s, like other hospices, will also be eligible to apply for the further additional funding now being made available.
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 to increase the funding that clinical commissioning groups provide to the charitable hospice sector.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise the huge role palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, have played in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This importance was acknowledged in the provision of over £150 million in additional central funding to the hospice sector between April and July. Further additional funding of up to £125 million has now been announced to enable hospices to continue their vital end of life care services and deliver even greater support for the NHS.
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 to provide funding to charitable hospice care providers who have lost community funding during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise the huge role palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, have played in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This importance was acknowledged in the provision of over £150 million in additional funding to the hospice sector between April and July. Further additional funding of up to £125 million has now been announced to enable hospices to continue their vital end of life care services and deliver even greater support for the National Health Service.
NHS England and NHS Improvement can confirm that Rennie Grove Hospice received £1,000,317 between April and July this year. Rennie Grove, like other hospices, will be eligible to apply for the further additional funding now being made available.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the £125 million for hospices announced on 23 November 2020 will result in Barnett consequentials,; and what estimate he has made of how much of that funding will be allocated to the Scottish Government.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
To give the Scottish Government the certainty to plan and deliver their coronavirus response, we have provided them with an upfront guarantee that they will receive at least £8.2bn in additional funding this year on top of their Spring Budget funding.
Any additional funding provided to the Department of Health and Social Care for hospices will result in Barnett consequentials for the Scottish Government that will contribute towards the guaranteed £8.2bn.
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: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for hospices; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are 184 hospices in England almost all of which are majority funded from charitable and philanthropic donations and are therefore independent organisations. Most hospices also receive some statutory funding, mainly from clinical commissioning groups for providing local services.
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 discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. A range of steps have been taken to support hospices.
We have made up to £200 million available to the sector for additional capacity between April and July, and we continue to work closely with hospices to support their essential work.