Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether support is available for clinical commissioning groups to help ensure that decisions on funding end of life care for children meet local needs.

NHS England has established seven palliative and end of life care (PEoLC) strategic clinical networks to improve access to and the quality and sustainability of services. These networks support commissioners to deliver clinical and personalised care for people with PEoLC needs, including for children and young people.

NHS England works with national and regional partners to review current models of care, commissioning pathways and financial formulas to support commissioners on funding decisions. NHS England has also committed to increasing its contribution to children’s PEoLC by matching the funding of clinical commissioning groups which commit to increase their investment in local children’s PEoLC services, including children’s hospices. This aims to increase National Health Service funding from £11 million to a combined £25 million a year by 2023/24.