Fair Funding Now
Cross-party parliamentary support for hospice funding.
On Monday 18 May, MPs and Peers from across all parties and both Houses will come together at Downing Street to call for urgent fair funding for hospices.
This page brings together the letter, parliamentary support, media release and resources to help you take action.
A Letter to the Prime Minister
The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
Dear Prime Minister,
We write as Members of Parliament and Peers from across both Houses and from all parties to express our shared concern regarding the growing financial pressures facing hospices across the United Kingdom.
Hospices provide essential, compassionate care to patients and families at the most vulnerable moments in their lives. However, across the country, hospices are increasingly reporting that financial pressures are now impacting their ability to maintain services at current levels.
This is not an isolated issue, but one being felt widely across the sector. Hospices are facing rising costs, increasing demand, and widening funding gaps — with many now having to make difficult decisions that affect capacity, access to care, and the support available to patients and their families.
As parliamentarians, we are hearing directly from hospices, clinicians, and our constituents about the real-world impact of these pressures. We are also acutely aware of the wider implications for the health system, including increased pressure on NHS services where hospice provision is reduced.
We therefore come together, on a cross-party basis, to support the sector’s call for Fair Funding Now and to urge the Government to give urgent priority to ensuring that hospices are able to continue delivering the vital care on which so many rely.
This collective expression of support reflects not a political position, but a shared recognition across both Houses of the importance of hospice care and the need to address the challenges now being faced.
We would welcome continued engagement with the sector and look forward to the Government setting out the steps it will take to provide the support needed to sustain hospice services both now and in the longer term.
Yours sincerely,
Corin Dalby
Tricia Dalby
Parliamentary Support
Cross-party MPs and Peers supporting Fair Funding Now
Key voices include:
Jeremy Hunt MP (Conservative – former Chancellor)
Sir Desmond Swayne MP (Conservative)
Daisy Cooper MP (Liberal Democrat – Deputy Leader)
Rachel Maskell MP (Labour)
Neil Duncan-Jordan MP (Labour)
John McDonnell MP (Labour)
Alex Sobel MP (Labour)
Jeremy Corbyn MP (Independent)
Adrian Ramsay MP (Green Party Co-Leader)
Members of the House of Lords:
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench – leading hospice authority)
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour – former Health Minister)
Lord Dannatt (Crossbench – former Head of the British Army)
Lord Polak (Conservative)
Lord Foulkes (Labour)
Lord Truscott (Labour – APPG Hospice & End of Life Care)
Lord Kerr (Crossbench)
Lord Freyberg (Crossbench)
Lord Ramsay of Cartvale (Conservative)
Lord Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat)
Baroness Fookes (Conservative)
Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat)
Baroness Lister (Labour – social policy expert)
Baroness Morgan (Labour)
What Parliament is Saying
Lord Dannatt:
“We must ensure that others receive the same compassionate hospice care.”
Lord Polak:
“After participating in the committee stage of the Assisted Dying Bill, I am more convinced than ever that hospices throughout the UK must be properly funded.”
Neil Duncan-Jordan MP:
“Otherwise they are left to get the begging bowls out — which is neither dignified nor sustainable.”
Lord Foulkes:
“Hospice care must be seen as a crucial part of health care and properly funded.”
Lord Truscott:
“Hospices provide vital care and deserve fair funding.”
Sir Desmond Swayne MP:
“The situation is urgent: desperately needed service provision is already being cut back.”
Professor Vicky Price:
“Ensuring sustainable support for hospice services is essential to maintaining safe, dignified care.”
Take Action
If you are part of the hospice sector or support it:
- Contact your MP and ask them to support Fair Funding Now
- Share the campaign on social media
- Add your MP’s name publicly once they confirm support
Social Media Resources
Download and share campaign graphics to show your support.
Press Release
MORE THAN 250 MPs AND PEERS BACK RARE CROSS-PARTY HOSPICE FUNDING INTERVENTION AT DOWNING STREET
More than 250 MPs and Peers from across Parliament are backing a rare cross-party intervention on hospice funding, culminating in a coordinated gathering at Downing Street on 18 May.
A parliamentary delegation will formally deliver a letter to the Prime Minister, with a wider group of MPs and Peers expected to assemble outside Downing Street shortly afterwards in a visible show of cross-party support.
Signatories warn that the UK’s hospice funding crisis has now reached a national emergency, requiring urgent Government action.
With support from across both Houses, the Fair Funding Now campaign has rapidly become one of the largest visible parliamentary coalitions assembled around hospice and end-of-life care.
Support includes senior figures from across Parliament, including Sir Jeremy Hunt MP, former Chancellor and Health Secretary; Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Daisy Cooper MP, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats; Helen Morgan MP, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson; Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, leading palliative care expert; Lord Darzi of Denham, former Health Minister; and Lord Dannatt, former Head of the British Army, alongside MPs and Peers from all major political parties.
Signatories warn that without immediate funding support, hospices across the country risk further bed closures, service reductions, increased pressure on NHS hospitals, and vulnerable patients being denied the dignity, compassion and specialist care they deserve.
Such a broad and visible cross-party mobilisation around hospice funding is extremely rare, underlining the growing concern across Westminster.
Parliamentary voices
Helen Morgan MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, said: “It’s simply wrong that our wonderful hospices can’t plan for the future because of the Government’s failure to commit enough funding.
“Hospices up and down the country provide crucial care, supporting patients and their families through the toughest of times.
“I fully support fair funding both now and for the future so that people know they will be able to access the care they deserve when they need it most.”
Caroline Dinenage MP said:
“Hospices are on life support due to the Government’s tax rises and inconsistent support. Without urgent intervention, we risk seeing the dignity hospices provide at the end of life taken away.”
Lord Lamont of Lerwick said:
“There are many demands for public spending, but the need for additional funding for hospices is urgent. With an ageing population, Britain’s hospices are facing immense challenges, and providing greater support should be a high priority for any government.”
Baron Foulkes said:
“Hospice care must be seen as a crucial part of our health system and properly funded.”
Kate Osamor MP said:
“Hospice leaders have warned for months that they are nearing a financial crisis. We must act now to secure the funding needed to protect essential end-of-life care.”
Caroline Dinenage MP said:
“Hospices are on life support due to the Government’s tax rises and inconsistent support. Without urgent intervention, we risk seeing the dignity hospices provide at the end of life taken away.”
Neil Duncan-Jordan MP said:
“Otherwise they are left to get the begging bowls out — which is neither dignified nor sustainable.”
Sir Desmond Swayne MP said:
“The situation is urgent — essential hospice services are already being cut back. This cannot continue.”
Lord Truscott said:
“Hospices provide vital care — and they deserve fair and sustainable funding.”
Lord Lamont of Lerwick said:
“There are many demands for public spending, but the need for additional funding for hospices is urgent. With an ageing population, Britain’s hospices are facing immense challenges, and providing greater support should be a high priority for any government.”
Baron Foulkes said:
“Hospice care must be seen as a crucial part of our health system and properly funded.”
Professor Vicky Anne-Price, President of the Society for Acute Medicine said:
“Patients approaching end of life need compassionate and skilled care. Many have complex medical and psychological needs, and hospices are essential in providing this away from the pressures of acute hospitals. –
At a time of increasing pressure across the NHS, ensuring sustainable support for hospice services is vital to maintaining safe, dignified care.”
Campaign statement
Corin Dalby and Tricia Dalby, founders of the Fair Funding Now campaign and Directors at Box Power CIC, said:
“This is no longer a quiet warning — it is now a clear and united signal from across Parliament that the hospice funding crisis has reached a critical point.
When MPs and Peers from all sides come together at Downing Street, it reflects the scale and seriousness of the issue. Hospices are a vital part of our healthcare system, and urgent action is now needed to protect patients, families, communities and the wider NHS.”
The Downing Street intervention will take place on Monday 18 May, with a letter handover at 1pm and a larger cross-party gathering expected shortly afterwards.
As pressure grows, Fair Funding Now is rapidly becoming one of the clearest parliamentary signals yet that hospice funding can no longer be ignored.
Notes to editors
Fair Funding Now is a parliamentary-backed campaign supported by MPs and Peers across both Houses, coordinated by Corin and Tricia Dalby of Box Power CIC, a UK-based philanthropic energy consultancy. Box Power donates its profits to UK charities, including hospice organisations, and is a patron of several hospices.
About Box Power:
Founded in 2014, Box Power CIC is the UK’s first philanthropic not-for-profit energy consultancy for business. In 2021, Box Power donated £800,000 to northwest charities. Last December, following a 7-mth campaign for £100mll hospice funding, with the support from major hospices and over 100 cross-party MP’s they took their fight direct to 10-Downing St as covered by major media TV and newspapers as seen here in the Daily Express, BBC & ITV.