Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s plans are for the Greener NHS Programme.

The Government remains committed to supporting National Health Service bodies to meet their obligations regarding the environment, and we continue to work to ensure that the NHS fulfils its significant potential to contribute to our clean power mission and Net Zero legal commitments.

NHS trusts have made significant progress on environmental goals in recent years, including securing £1.2 billion in funding though the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme since 2019. In addition, every trust and integrated care board now has a clear “Green Plan” in place, setting out the key actions that will deliver emissions reductions and support resilience to climate impacts.

The Department will continue to work with partners across the NHS and Government to deliver on these aims. For instance, we have recently completed a £95 million investment through the National Energy Efficiency Fund to drive down trust energy bills and emissions. Looking forward, together with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, we recently announced a £100 million partnership with Great British Energy that will increase NHS solar generation by 300%.