Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on identifying a new contractor to complete the building of the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital after the collapse of Carillion; and if will he make a statement.

The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract between the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and the PFI Project Company is still in place, which means that the Company is still contractually obliged to manage the project and find a construction firm or subcontractor who can continue the building work.

The Royal Liverpool Hospital scheme is very well advanced. The PFI Project Company is continuing its discussions with their lenders and with other service and construction companies to assess how best to continue delivering the contract. Officials from the Department and NHS Improvement are continuing to work very actively with all the parties to ensure there are plans in place to keep the delay as short as possible and provide the best value for money solution for the trust and for the public sector as a whole.