Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) business case status and (b) RIBA stage is of the Lancashire and South Cumbria New Hospitals Programme scheme.

The standard process confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive.

There are two New Hospital Programme schemes in Lancashire and South Cumbria, the scheme for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at Royal Preston Hospital, and the scheme for the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust at Royal Lancaster Infirmary. Up to the end of the 2023/24, both trusts received £6.7 million each for their new hospital schemes.

The breakdown of how much the trusts received for their new hospital schemes is published annually as part of the Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts, with Public Dividend Capital to individual trusts included in the Financial Assistance Report under section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006. The 2022/23 report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023

Both schemes are at Pre-Consultation Business Case stage, and are at Royal Institute of British Architects Stage 1.