Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.

Surveys have been conducted to confirm that no Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) is present in the Departmental corporate estate.

National Health Service trusts have conducted extensive building survey works to identify the presence of RAAC in their fabric, using technology to record potential issues and visually identify and log potential risks. There are 22 NHS bodies with RAAC plank construction in the whole or a significant part of their estate. We have allocated a total of £685 million for mitigation works in all the affected trusts up to 2024/25. We are allocating funding annually, based on NHS trust plans and delivery progress. In the last financial year, £210 million was allocated to NHS hospital trusts to manage RAAC issues on their estates.

We have committed to eradicating RAAC from the publicly owned NHS estate by 2035, protecting patient and staff safety in the interim period, with the NHS approaching this on a ‘risk basis’ and prioritising NHS trusts of concern.