Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Foord Excerpts

Wednesday 18th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know that this is a subject on which my right hon. Friend speaks with authority, and I thank him for his previous work in the area. With regard to our aid funding, as the Foreign Secretary will outline later, we have very stringent governance in place to make sure that it is spent on the humanitarian needs that we want to address. I also agree with him that there is one person and one person alone that is responsible for the atrocities that we are seeing, and that is Hamas.

[Richard Foord (Tiverton and Honiton) (LD)]

Q3.   On behalf of the Liberal Democrats, may I associate myself and my party with all the comments about the protection of innocent civilians today wherever they may be? A whole wing of Seaton Hospital in Devon is earmarked for demolition under this Government. The proposal to demolish this wing is an insult to the communities that raised millions of pounds to help fund the upkeep of services at that hospital. The space was given to NHS Property Services, but, thanks to the charging policy introduced by the Conservatives, that company is demanding £300,000 in rent. Will the Prime Minister let NHS Property Services hand over the space to health charities and community interest groups so that we can stop a wrecking ball going through Seaton Hospital?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, decisions about hospital infrastructure are a matter for the NHS. I am told that Devon Integrated Care Board is working together with NHS Property Services and local community healthcare providers to establish a future sustainable use for the currently vacant space. May I also take the opportunity to commend the work that my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Simon Jupp) is doing on this topic?