Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) travel distances and (b) levels of public transport in (i) site planning and (ii) service design for neighbourhood health centres in rural areas; and what his timeline is for the rollout of those centres.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government aims to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community by 2035. Neighbourhood Health Centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, services will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities, to reflect local needs.
On 21 July 2025, I wrote to Members of Parliament highlighting that the Department and NHS England have written to integrated care boards and local authorities to invite applications to participate in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre delivery pipeline.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support the installation of solar energy projects on local government buildings.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero is working closely with Great British Energy (GBE), the Department for Health and Social Care, and the Department for Education to install rooftop solar panels on schools and hospitals.
In England £180 million in funding will support around 200 schools and 200 hospitals. This could lead to lifetime savings of up to £400 million over approximately thirty years.
Additionally, more than £1 billion is also being invested between now and 2028 through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and the Integrated Settlements with Greater Manchester and West Midlands Mayoral Combined Authorities, which supports the installation of solar on public sector buildings across England.
The government has also published Solar on the Government Estate: A senior Leader’s handbook. This sets out the guidance available to senior leaders in the public sector regarding solar on their estates.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether their Department plans to amend its policies on access to (a) toilets, (b) changing facilities and (c) other single-sex spaces in (i) Departmental buildings and (ii) other buildings within their Department’s remit following the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomes the Supreme Court's ruling and the clarity that it brings. We will review our internal policies wherever necessary, ensuring that they follow the clarity provided by the ruling and comply with the latest legal position. We will also ensure that the protections which remain in place for trans people to live free from discrimination and harassment, including in relation to their employment, are also taken into account.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to allocate the £102 million of funding to expand and update GP premises; and whether the Tolsey surgery in Sherston will receive funding.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On Tuesday 6 May, we announced which primary care schemes are in line to receive funding from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund. Further information is available at the following link:
The fund will deliver upgrades to more than a thousand general practice surgeries across England, which will improve the use of existing buildings and spaces, enabling improved productivity, with practices able to deliver an estimated eight million more patient appointments each year.
We have made sure that every single region across the country receives part of the funding, so benefits are felt nationwide. Decisions were made based on the highest priority of need and where the investment would quickly create additional clinical space, specifically to deliver more appointments. Tolsey surgery in Sherston did not meet these criteria as strongly as other schemes within the integrated care board’s area, and it has therefore not been selected for this year’s funding.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the funding made available to ICBs for primary care can be used by GP surgeries to develop plans for premises improvement that will extend beyond the financial year in which an application is submitted.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments to ensure we have world class infrastructure across the entire NHS estate.
At a local level, the relevant integrated care board is responsible for deciding how the NHS budget for its area is spent and for allocating funding according to local priorities, such as new general practice (GP) surgeries or integrated care centres/neighbourhood hubs.
At the Autumn Budget, we established a dedicated capital fund of £102 million to deliver approximately 200 upgrade schemes to GP surgeries across England, supporting the improved use of existing buildings and space, boosting productivity, and enabling delivery of more appointments. This funding represents a first step in delivering the additional capital the primary care sector needs.
Further support for NHS organisations delivering local and national priorities beyond this financial year is being considered in the 10-Year Health Plan and as part of phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of not including Stepping Hill Hospital in the New Hospital Programme on (a) patient and staff safety, (b) quality of care and (c) the condition and adequacy of the infrastructure at that hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Stockport Foundation NHS Trust submitted an expression of interest (EOI) to join the New Hospital Programme (NHP) in 2021, alongside other National Health Service trusts. The Department worked with NHS England on a joint prioritisation exercise assessing the EOIs in detail.
All EOIs were scored against a series of indicators from four categories: deliverability; better and smarter use of NHS infrastructure; fairer allocation of investment and efficient use of public resources; and stronger and greener NHS buildings. This assessment was conducted in conjunction with an analysis of metrics covering estates, finance, and quality from existing national datasets. An assessment of these EOIs against regional strategic priorities was also conducted.
In May 2023, the Government confirmed that five hospitals constructed primarily using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) would be brought into the NHP, following a structural assessment by NHS England and the Department, which found that these hospitals would be unsafe to operate beyond 2030. Due to the size, complexity, and costs involved in rebuilding RAAC hospitals, it was not possible to invite other schemes to join.
We are supporting the Stockport Foundation NHS Trust to improve the condition of the infrastructure at Stepping Hill Hospital, with up to £11.5 million from the critical infrastructure risk fund confirmed in 2024/25 to support the replacement of outpatient capacity and to deliver much needed improvements to patient and staff safety.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to expand the provision of capital investment for the primary care estate.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, by fixing the front door to the NHS and shifting the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community. At the Autumn Budget 2024, we established a dedicated capital fund of £102 million to deliver approximately 200 upgrades to general practice surgeries across England, supporting improved use of existing buildings and space, boosting productivity, and enabling delivery of more appointments. This funding represents a first step in delivering the additional capital the primary care sector needs.
The Government recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments, and the Department is currently reviewing capital requirements in line with the Government’s missions and as part of our preparations for Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allocate capital funding to improve stroke care infrastructure in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to shifting the focus of the National Health Service out of hospitals and into the community through our 10-Year Health Plan, and we recognise that delivering high-quality NHS healthcare services requires the right infrastructure in the right places.
The Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB) has been provisionally allocated £5.6 million from our Primary Care Utilisation fund for 2025/26 to upgrade existing buildings and space, boosting productivity, and enabling practices to deliver more patient appointments.
In addition, the Greater Manchester ICB has been provisionally allocated £30.3 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery fund to deliver new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds to increase capacity for elective and emergency care.
In addition to national programme allocations, the Greater Manchester ICB has been provisionally allocated £194.5 million of operational capital funding, including primary care business as usual capital, which can be used to improve stroke care infrastructure, where this is a local priority.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS (a) hospitals, and (b) other buildings in England will be (i) sold, (ii) refurbished, and (iii) demolished between 2025 and 2030.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not currently hold estimated figures for the number of sales, refurbishments and demolitions of hospitals and other National Health Service buildings in England for 2025 to 2030.
Decisions to sell, refurbish or demolish hospitals and other NHS buildings in England are matters for the local NHS organisations in line with their local infrastructure planning.
Decisions on sales, refurbishments and demolitions will also be shaped by capital availability. We are backing NHS systems to invest in local priorities in 2025/26, with over £4 billion in operational capital, and national funding, including the £750 million Estates Safety Fund. Systems are in planning stages for capital investments in 2025/26, informed by the NHS capital guidance for 2025/26, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/capital-guidance-2025-26/
Capital funding levels for 2026/27 to 2030/31 will be determined through the current Spending Review, which concludes in June 2025.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allocate capital funding to improve stroke care infrastructure within the (a) Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board and (b) Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board areas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to shifting the focus of the National Health Service out of hospitals and into the community through our 10-Year Health Plan, and recognises that delivering high-quality NHS healthcare services requires the right infrastructure in the right places.
The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) has been provisionally allocated £2.8 million from our Primary Care Utilisation fund for 2025/26 to upgrade existing buildings and space, boosting productivity and enabling practices to deliver more patient appointments. In addition, the ICB has been provisionally allocated £39.3 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery fund to deliver new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds to increase capacity for elective and emergency care.
The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB has been provisionally allocated £1.7 million from our Primary Care Utilisation fund and £32.5 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery fund for 2025/26.
In addition to national programme allocations, the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire ICB and the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB have been provisionally allocated £123 million and £62 million respectively in operational capital for 2025/26, including primary care business-as-usual capital, which can be used to improve stroke care infrastructure where this is a local priority.