Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of (a) NHS Capital and (b) District Valuer Services rules in meeting demand for new primary care facilities.

The Government is committed to fixing the front door of the National Health Service, and this includes working with providers to deliver the primary care infrastructure required to enable a Neighbourhood Health Service.

Capital spending is set to increase by £1.8 billion to £13.6 billion in 2025/26, representing a real terms increase of 12.8%. Excluding COVID-19 years, this settlement represents the highest Departmental capital budget in real terms since 2010. The Department is currently reviewing capital requirements in line with the Government’s missions and as part of our preparations for future budget allocations.

Properties occupied by general practitioners are required to be professionally valued by the District Valuer. This is to ensure that agreed rent levels are in line with market conditions. It is important that these rent levels represent value for money because they will be reimbursed by the local integrated care board under the Premises Costs Directions 2024.