Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allow bids for the New Hospital Programme from hospitals which did not bid previously.

At this stage, the Government does not have plans to add additional schemes into the New Hospital Programme (NHP) but is committed to tackling the crumbling estate through the full breadth of capital investment, of which the NHP is only one element.

The purpose of the review into the NHP was to put the programme onto a realistic and sustainable footing through a new costed and prioritised timetable for the delivery of the schemes already in the NHP. The NHP’s Plan for Implementation sets out the outcome of the review, is published on the GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

The Department has a £13.6 billion capital settlement for 2025/26, from which the Department has allocated £4 billion to integrated care boards in annual operational capital allocations. These allocations are managed locally, with funds allocated towards local priorities. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also committed over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. £1.35 billion will be allocated to systems to support their progress towards achieving constitutional standards, with a focus on improving the efficiency and productivity of existing workforces as well as capacity. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review which concludes in June 2025. This combined investment will be felt in all parts of the National Health Service estate in England.