Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to dispose of the assets of the NHS no longer in use; and if he will make a statement.

The National Health Service has a track record of disposing of assets that it no longer needs, particularly land and buildings. It has played a major role in contributing to the Government’s initiative to sell surplus public land with capacity for 100,000 homes by 31 March 2015, having already sold land to support more than 8,000 homes (January 2015). As well as supporting housing and economic growth, selling surplus land also delivers receipts for the NHS, which can be reinvested to support the delivery of front line services.

The Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC) system collects data annually from NHS trusts about their estate including in relation to the income from building and land sales and the land area sold. This ERIC data is collected on behalf of the Department and published on the Health and Social Care Information website at:

http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp

In addition, the NHS provides information to the Department about its plans for disposing of surplus land and buildings over the next 5 years, which is published annually at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/release-of-nhs-owned-land-for-development