Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial sustainability of the hospice sector; and what plans they have, if any, to provide short-term revenue support to hospices to maintain services whilst they develop a long-term funding settlement for palliative and end-of-life care.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 16 March in response to Question HL14849, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.

We have provided a £125 million capital funding boost for eligible adult, and children and young people’s, hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

We are also providing £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices in England over the next three financial years, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting integrated care boards to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.  Officials are working closely with a number of stakeholders from the hospice sector in the development of the MSF.