Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of replacing the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in Royal Oldham Hospital.

The National Health Service has a comprehensive mitigation plan in place for hospital buildings with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), including significant funding worth £698 million from 2021 to 2025 for trusts to put in place necessary remediation and failsafe measures. NHS England is working closely with all affected trusts, including Royal Oldham, to develop and deliver plans to remove all identified RAAC. Royal Oldham Hospital has so far received £125,000 in funding to deal with RAAC mitigation. Funding allocations are made on an annual basis and funding for RAAC remediation works beyond 2025 will be considered in the next spending review.

The Government has committed to eradicating RAAC from the publicly owned NHS estate by 2035, including Royal Oldham Hospital.