Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department is working with integrated care boards to help tackle potential barriers for GP partnerships when seeking funding for (a) new premises and (b) expansion under the capital funding structure.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to ensure that the National Health Service estate is fit for purpose, in order to meet the needs of the local population.

General practices (GPs) are independent contractors, which, alongside ICBs, are responsible for ensuring their premises are up to standard. Most practice premises are privately owned or leased.

The Department and NHS England requested that ICBs develop estates infrastructure strategies. These have been developed to create a long-term plan for future estate requirements and investment for each local area and its needs. These strategies must take existing and future GP and primary care estate into account when considering how best to deliver local services. To support them in doing this, we provide an annual capital allocation, operational capital, which ICBs are free to use as they see fit, working with healthcare providers in their area including GPs, to deliver their estates and infrastructure priorities.

At a national level, we continue to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure all new and existing developments have an adequate level of healthcare infrastructure for the community.

In Autumn 2024, the Government announced the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund, a nationally controlled fund which will deliver upgrades this financial year to GP surgeries across England. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care. ICBs were invited to submit funding proposals that align with local integrated care system infrastructure strategies and the Primary Care Network Estates Toolkit, prioritising high-quality, fit-for-purpose estates over poorly maintained assets.