I have been contacted by a number of my constituents who have raised their concerns about hospices and the cost of energy.

I understand that the cost of living and in particular energy bills are highly concerning to hospices and the ability to manage their bills. I can assure you that the Government recognise this is a pressing issue and are taking action to further support hospices.

The Government's Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) currently is in place to support hospices, reducing energy spending and creating more budget certainty. In April 2023, the EBRS will be replaced by the Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) which will run until March 2024. The EBDS will support hospices offering discounts per-unit on gas and electricity unit prices, during this period. This discount will be applied if wholesale prices are above a certain price threshold. For most non-domestic energy users in the UK these maximum discounts have been set at £19.61 per megawatt hour (MWh) with a price threshold of £302 per MWh for electricity, and at £6.97 per MWh with a price threshold of £107 per MWh for gas.

Yet these are not the only measures the Government is taking to support hospices in this time, with an increase in support for palliative and end of life care for children and young people. The Children and Young People’s hospice grant, provides £21 million in 2022/23, rising to £25 million in 2023/24. Furthermore, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, up to £5 million in 2022/23 of match funding has been made available to commissioners who increase their overall level of investment in local children’s palliative and end of life care services, rising to up to £7 million in 2023/24.