Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that integrated care boards (a) commission children’s palliative care and (b) fund children’s hospices in (i) an equitable and (ii) a sustainable way.

Palliative care services, including children’s palliative care services, are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification for children and young people. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the important contribution that children and young people’s hospices make to care and support for babies, children, and young people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions, as well as to their families.

NHS England has provided £26 million in revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26, through what was, until recently, known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. This was an increase in funding from £25 million in 2024/25.

ICBs will once again administer the funding to their respective children and young people’s hospices on behalf of NHS England. The majority of children and young people’s hospices should now have received their allocations, with the remaining few receiving theirs in the coming weeks.

In February 2025, I met with key palliative care and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, including Together for Short Lives, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.