Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on consultancy for the new hospitals programme.

As per the definitions set out in government guidance, the New Hospital Programme does not have any costs recorded as consultancy costs. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/consultancy-spend-controls#definitions-of-types-of-services

However, we do have costs recorded as professional services.

The New Hospital Programme has a total recorded expenditure of £266 million for professional services from April 2021 up until 30 October 2024.