Bradley has urged the Health Secretary to confirm the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant after the Government failed to mention it in its Budget.
In a letter to Wes Streeting, the MP for Bromsgrove and the Villages 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 Bradley 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.
Bradley 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 Children’s Hospice Grant at the Budget.“As this did not happen, the Government must confirm as a matter of urgency that the Children’s Hospice Grant will continue. If it doesn’t, then Acorns has warned that, for the first time in its history, Acorns is facing the prospect of turning away a child in need. This is surely a situation that the 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.”
