Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the new generation of NHS hospitals being planned or constructed will be insulated; and with what fuel they will be heated.

In February 2023, NHS England published its ‘NHS Net Zero Building Standard’. The Standard provides technical guidance on achieving whole life Net Zero carbon including the electrification of heat and energy performance standards for new healthcare buildings and major upgrades. A copy is attached.

The National Health Service is committed to having a fully decarbonised estate by 2040. The new hospitals that will be delivered as part of the New Hospital Programme will be developed to meet these wider NHS Net-Zero-Carbon standards and underpinned by the new Standard. This includes a fabric first, highly insulated approach aligned with regulations and building safety requirements. The energy and fuel sources will vary from site to site, but the principles of low-energy and low-carbon are being embedded into each new hospital build.