Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional short term funding to hospitals who are the (a) second and (b) third phase of the New Hospital Programme to help mitigate the impact of deteriorating infrastructure on working conditions.

The safety of National Health Service staff and patients is of vital importance to the Government. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a key part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan.

Integrated care boards will collectively receive over £4 billion in annual capital allocations in 2025/26. These allocations are managed at a local level, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including estate maintenance works at New Hospital Programme sites. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also committed over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Further detail on funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025 to 2026, as part of NHS capital planning guidance. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review which concludes in June 2025.