Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the NHS high-risk maintenance backlog to be remedied.

The Department collects data on backlog maintenance (the estimated costs of eradicating all backlog maintenance to bring the estate and facilities to an appropriate standard for quality and safety) annually from National Health Service trusts through its Estates Returns Information Collection. This data is submitted by NHS providers who are responsible for assessing their own backlog maintenance and then assuring the quality of their own returns. It can be found at:

http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30096

Local NHS organisations are responsible for managing their own estate and ensuring they provide an environment that facilitates the delivery of high quality, safe care. This includes planning and investment to tackle high risk maintenance requirements. NHS providers receive funding through the NHS national tariff payment system and from other sources which enables them to undertake capital investment in their estate and in 2016-17 NHS providers made capital investment of around £1.6 billion in their land and buildings and as well as over £800 million for plants and machinery such as generators.