To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the separate dedicated registration of (a) adult and (b) children's hospices. [12391]

None at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what factors underlay his decision to end the separate central funding of children's hospices from 1994–95; and what consultations his Department undertook with (a) children's hospices and (b) local health authorities prior to that decision; [12393](2) what discussions he has had with local health authorities in respect of the target of 50:50 funding for children's hospices from health authority purchasers; [12390](3) if it is his policy that children's hospices should be eligible for matching funding from the NHS. [12394]

There was never separate central funding for children's hospices. The target of 50:50 funding was a national target and did not apply to individual hospices. It was never applied to children's hospices. From 1994–95, funding for specialist palliative care has been built into health authorities' general allocations. This was announced in the NHS executive letter EL(93)14 issued in February 1993, copies of which are available in the Library. Services for children with life-threatening illnesses are now eligible for funding and health authority commissioners can negotiate with children's hospices for the services that they wish to purchase in the same way as they do for adult hospices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were cared for in each of the last three years in children's hospices in the United Kingdom. [12392]

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospice beds there were in each of the last five years. [12716]

The available information is shown in the table.