Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to call an inquiry into the demolition of construction by Carillion at the new Liverpool Royal Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Following the collapse of Carillion, the Government agreed to support the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust’s decision to end its private finance initiative (PFI) deal, and also the Trust’s activities to arrange for the completion of the construction of the new hospital including any required demolition of earlier construction.

The National Audit Office are currently carrying out an investigation with a scope that includes the Government’s response after the collapse of Carillion, the subsequent letting of the new contracts. This report is expected to be published in November 2019.

The Trust have worked with the replacement contractor Laing O’Rourke and external advisers in undertaking a fully costed assessment of all the works needed to complete the new Royal Liverpool hospital. This assessment will be set out in a business case, which the Trust intends to submit to NHS Improvement and the Department for approval soon.

NHS Improvement and the Department are liaising closely with the Trust to ensure that the hospital is completed as soon as is possible.