AS CHILDREN’S hospices remain in the dark about the future of historically earmarked government funding, Bromsgrove’s MP continues to urge the Health Secretary to provide clarity on the issue.
In a letter to Wes Streeting, Bradley Thomas MP has called on the Health Secretary to protect and maintain the Children’s Hospice Grant as a directly distributed, ringfenced grant.
He’s also urged the Government to guarantee the Children’s Hospice Grant for at least five years and increase it by the rate of inflation every year.
Acorns Children’s Hospice, which is headquartered in Wythall, received £2,098,000 from the Children’s Hospice Grant this year (2024-35). However, the funding picture after this year remains unclear following the Budget.
The hospice has warned that, without a guaranteed Children’s Hospice Grant, Acorns and other children’s hospices will have no choice but to make difficult decisions about cutting vital services.
This is why Mr Thomas wrote to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget and attended a parliamentary debate on funding for children’s hospices where he backed Acorns’ fight to save the Children’s Hospice Grant.
In total, the grant is worth £25 million to hospices across England and accounts for around 13 per cent of Acorns’ annual income.
Mr Thomas said: “It was disappointing there was not a single mention of this vital funding in the Government’s Budget last week.
“Hospices up and down the country, including Acorns Children’s Hospice in my constituency, had been calling on the Government to guarantee the future of the grant at the Budget.
“As this did not happen, the Government must confirm as a matter of urgency that the grant will continue.
“If it doesn’t, then Acorns has warned, for the first time in its history, it is facing the prospect of turning away a child in need. This is surely a situationthe Government can’t accept.
“I’ll continue to do all I can to ensure Acorns continues to receive this vital funding which enables them to be there for every child and family who needs them.”
