Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to increase funding for end-of-life care; and if he will make a statement.

As with the vast majority of NHS services, the funding and commissioning of palliative and end of life care, is a local matter, over which individual National Health Service commissioners have responsibility. Local commissioners are best placed to understand the needs of local populations and commission services to meet those needs accordingly.

As part of the £20.5 billion a year for the NHS, NHS England is working with the Department to develop a long-term plan, details of which will be published later this year. End of life care is an important part of the proposals and NHS England will continue working with key stakeholders to test the plan before its publication.