Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to review the funding model for hospices for (i) children and young people and (ii) adults.

A review is not currently taking place. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for determining the level of National Health Service-funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, locally, and they are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.

While the NHS has always been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of the population, as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an ICB must commission, to clarify this responsibility.

In June 2023, NHS England confirmed that it would be renewing the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million grant funding for children’s hospices in England. NHS England will communicate further details regarding the process for the grant allocations later this year.