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.

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.