Fiscal support to the hospice sector and increases in the cost of living

The majority of hospices were established from charitable and philanthropic donations and are primarily charity-funded and independently run. However, they receive some statutory funding from the NHS and central Government.

NHS commissioning of palliative and end of life care, including hospices, is largely the responsibility of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). NHS England has developed Palliative and End of Life Care Strategic Clinical Networks, and in July 2022 they published statutory guidance for ICBs on palliative and end of life care. These are intended to support ICBs to fulfil their legal duty to commission palliative and end of life care services that meet the needs of their population.

In July 2019, the Government announced plans to increase Children’s Hospice grant from £12 million in 2019/20 to £25 million by 2023/24. The grant is provided to children’s hospices to compensate for the lower levels of local statutory funding they receive compared to adult hospices. The Government subsequently announced additional funding for hospices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hospice UK (the national charity for hospice and palliative care) is campaigning for the Government to take action to help hospices with rising costs for energy, food and staff pay. They note that, in total, hospices are facing more than £100 million in additional costs this year (see Hospice UK calls for action over rising costs).

A number of recent Parliamentary Questions have asked about support for hospices in the context of increased cost of living. The Government has responded that at a national level, NHS England have released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding. PQ responses also refer to support provided by Government through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, and the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme which will provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including hospices, from April 2023 until March 2024. See for example:

• PQ HL5551, Hospices, 15 Feb 2023
• PQ HL5463, Hospices: Finance, 14 Feb 2023
• PQ 141615, Hospices, 14 Feb 2023
• PQ 126717, Hospices: Energy, 26 Jan 2023

• House of Commons Library, Rising cost of living in the UK, 20 February 2023
• House of Commons Library, Constituency casework: Government support for energy bills, 2 February 2023 – This has background on the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and the Energy Bil Discount Scheme.
• House of Commons Library, Constituency casework: help with energy bills for businesses, voluntary sector and public sector organisations, 13 December 2022 – The provides information on wider support that may be available.
• Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), Palliative and end of life care, 27 July 2022
• Marie Curie, Better End of Life report, 8 April 2021