PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Hospitals: Construction (22 October 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 293621 on Hospitals: Construction, if he will publish the criteria referred to in paragraph five of the answer.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

Funding in relation to the 40 hospital building projects and other capital schemes includes provision for VAT under current VAT rules and recovery will be assessed for each scheme in line with current guidelines. Our funding allocation for the Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP) has been built up by overall cost estimates of the schemes inclusive of VAT, however the amount of VAT that will be payable will be determined once schemes have been fully scoped.

The criteria used to arrive at the 21 projects covering 34 hospitals, identified to receive seed funding to kick start their schemes considered various aspects. The estates and facilities running costs were a factor, and backlog - in particular, Critical Infrastructure Risk (a subset of the highest risk elements of backlog with a potential for significant impact, e.g. fire safety). Other areas considered were unused and functionally unsuitable space and incidents having an impact on clinical services. Furthermore, the list was checked to ensure regions were fairly represented. All this took place with engagement through National Health Service regional teams taking their view on overall investment need and local prioritisation.

Answered by:
Edward Argar (Conservative)
28 October 2019