Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 22
6th Report - Palliative Care
Published 24 Mar 2026
Addressed to Department of Health and Social Care
Health and Social Care Committee Palliative Care All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government moves towards sustainable and predictable models of funding for hospices, financing their running as well as investment costs, which reflects the increasingly central role they will play in delivering end of life care. This funding should be accompanied by conditions that require hospices to play a greater role in actively addressing inequalities in access to their services. (Recommendation, Paragraph 84) 39
From: Health and Social Care Committee, 6th Report - Palliative Care (HC 1763), 24 March 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 19 June 2026 (deadline 24 May 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government labels its response to each of the ten recommendations as accept, partially accept or reject, accepting most, including that of accountability arrangements for the Modern Service Framework, and rejecting two.
- On accountability, it accepts the recommendation and says arrangements will be developed with the National Quality Board, with the full Modern Service Framework due for publication in "Autumn 2026".
- It rejects the recommendation to reconsider removing local authority representation from ICBs, saying the current arrangement is "confusing and ineffective" and that collaboration will be at place level through health and wellbeing boards.
- It rejects implementing a 90% Palliative Care Register target, noting there is no formal target but describing it as "a stretch target that we would like to achieve by 2029". It is "considering the target and metrics" as it develops the full MSF.
- It partially accepts the workforce recommendation, stating "it would not be right to set targets for staffing" and that it is "not for the Government to mandate a defined set of competencies". It is "planning to have funding and places ready for March 2027/28" for the palliative care qualification modules.