Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains her Department's policy to build a new hospital in Lancaster.

We remain committed to delivering a new hospital for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, for the new Royal Lancaster Infirmary. This is alongside our commitment for a new hospital for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, for the new Royal Preston Hospital.

Up until the end of the 2022/23, we provided the trusts with over £11 million in funding to further develop the plans for the new hospitals. Additionally, we have already provided over £450,000 to both trusts in 2023/24 for surveys and land assessments on potential sites for the new hospitals.