Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on palliative care in each financial year since 2020–21; and how much funding has been budgeted for palliative care in (a) 2026-2027, (b) 2027-2028 and (c) 2028-2029 financial year.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Palliative care and end-of-life care services are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) and spend is not measured or held centrally in a way that allows a comprehensive breakdown by each financial year. Additionally, palliative care and end-of-life care are broad, holistic approaches provided through a range of professionals and providers, both universal and specialist, across National Health Service, social care, and voluntary sector organisations. Therefore, it is difficult to measure the total provision or spend at either a national or local level as relevant consultations and tasks are not always coded as palliative care or end-of-life care.

Recently published research from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Policy Research Unit, however, estimates that total palliative care and end‑of‑life care expenditure in England is approximately £24,000 per person for 2024. This does not include social care and informal costs, such as unpaid care provided by family members.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end-of-life care is provided by NHS staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones. We have supported the hospice sector with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

We have also provided £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26, and are providing approximately £80 million of further funding over the three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29, equating to approximately £26 million per year, adjusted for inflation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support hospices prior to the implementation of the reforms outlined within the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have supported the hospice sector in England with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are also providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over the next three financial years, giving them the stability they need to plan ahead.

I also provided an interim update to the House on the Modern Service Framework (MSF) on 4 June 2026 in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, accompanied by a letter containing further information for interested parties. A copy of the statement is available at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88

As part of this interim update, the National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England has written to systems, setting out two actions to ensure progress is made towards strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services: firstly, produce an integrated needs assessment and understand service provision and utilisation; and secondly, move to sustainable contracting of hospice services.

The interim update outlines that the MSF will embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on clear and transparent contractual arrangements for commissioned palliative care activity across all providers, including hospices, to meet population health needs, with explicit regard to reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged groups. The full MSF will be published in Autumn 2026.

As set out in the interim update, we expect all integrated care boards to complete an integrated needs assessment, to gain a detailed understanding of their current and future population, including people of all ages with palliative care and end-of-life care needs. This is vital in order to commission the services to best meet that need, whilst providing the best value for money.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to (a) introduce increased support and incentives for businesses that recruit and train apprentices, (b) help employers to meet the costs of apprenticeship provision and (c) expand opportunities for young people.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government has committed a further £1 billion investment in young people, taking total additional investment into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.

We are transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and give employers greater flexibility to develop the workforce they need to grow and succeed.

To support non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) to meet the additional costs associated with employing young people as apprentices, we are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 when they take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees.

Additionally, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible young people aged under 25 from the start of the next academic year, to boost small business starts. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.

We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.

The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises over 3,000 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including in Sussex, through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 30627, if he will provide updated figures on the number of carers with Carer's Allowance overpayment debts as a result of breaching the earnings limit in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Overpayments can arise for a number of reasons. With respect to those linked to the treatment of earnings in Carer’s Allowance, we inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, found themselves with unexpected debts. We commissioned an Independent Review, led by Liz Sayce OBE, to investigate why overpayments occurred, how people affected can be better supported, and what changes are needed to prevent similar issues in future. We have published the findings of the Review, acknowledged the shortcomings identified, and accepted in full or in part 38 of the Review’s 40 recommendations. As part of its response, the Government committed to reassessing Carer’s Allowance cases which may have been affected by faulty guidance on averaging of irregularly fluctuating earnings. This guidance was in place between April 2015 and September 2025 and did not accurately reflect the statutory position.

The reassessment exercise began on 13 April 2026. Funding of £75m has been provided for the exercise in the financial years 2026/27 to 2028/29. The department expects to review over 200,000 cases, potentially reducing, cancelling, or refunding debts for around 25,000 carers.

The number of people with Carer's Allowance overpayment debts as a result of breaching the earnings limit where the person has a postcode in (a) England, (b) Wales, and (c) Scotland is presented below (correct as at 22 April 2026). Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, which is therefore excluded from these figures.

Carer’s Allowance has been a devolved matter in Scotland since April 2018, therefore cases with a Scottish postcode are not included where the overpayment occurred after that date. However, at the request of the Scottish Government, where such cases may have been affected by the faulty guidance on averaging of earnings identified by the Review, they are included in the current exercise to reassess such cases.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people who died while waiting to receive end-of-life care in each financial year since 2020–21.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold data on the number of people who died while waiting to receive palliative or end‑of‑life care in England.

Palliative care and end‑of‑life care are broad, holistic approaches delivered across a range of settings, including hospitals, primary care, community services, hospices, and care homes. As such, there is no single national waiting list for these services, and activity is not consistently recorded or coded in a way that would allow this information to be captured centrally.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning palliative care and end‑of‑life care services to meet the needs of their local populations, and NHS England has published statutory guidance to support commissioners in ensuring sufficient provision of services based on local need.

We recognise the importance of timely access to high‑quality care at the end of life, which is why the Government is developing a Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End‑of‑Life Care, which will support improvements in access, quality, and sustainability of services, and help ensure that high‑quality, personalised care is available across all settings. An interim update has now been published in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, with the full report due to be published in Autumn 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes in hospice services on NHS palliative and end-of-life care services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end‑of‑life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in supporting people at the end of life and their loved ones.

While the Government has made no assessment of the potential impact of changes in hospice services on NHS palliative care and end-of-life care services centrally, in February, NHS England wrote to all integrated care boards (ICBs) requesting an update on the financial stability of hospices in their footprint and the steps being taken to mitigate risks, as a matter of urgency. We are repeating this exercise, by asking ICBs and independent hospices, via Hospice UK, for an up-to-date assessment on their financial situation, risks, and mitigations.

In addition, the Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End‑of‑Life Care, which will support improvements in the access, quality, and sustainability of services, and which will help ensure that high‑quality, personalised care is available across all settings. An interim update has now been published the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS88, with the full report due to be published in Autumn 2026.

The MSF will embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on clear and transparent contractual arrangements for commissioned palliative care activity across all providers, including hospices, to meet population health needs, with explicit regard to reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional revenue funding to hospices in (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-2028, and (c) 2028-2029 financial years.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end-of-life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.

We recognise the significant challenges facing the hospice sector in England, including cost pressures and financial fragility. That is why we have supported the sector with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are also providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive, giving them the stability they need to plan ahead.

We are not in a position to offer additional funding beyond this at this time. However, we are supporting the sector in other ways. For example, the Government is developing a Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End‑of‑Life Care. An interim update has now been published the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS88, with the full report due to be published in autumn 2026. We are asking integrated care boards to move to sustainable contracting of adult, and children and young people’s, hospice services, based on their integrated needs assessment. Initially, this will involve the move away from short-term grant funding for adult hospice services from 2027/28.

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Found: IV: Alison Bennett. V: Jim Shannon.