Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the level of (a) capital and (b) revenue funding required to maintain (i) Bedford and (ii) Luton and Dunstable hospitals in the next fifteen years.
The Estates Returns Information Collection survey collects data from National Health Service trusts on the quality of their estate annually, including backlog maintenance, and the projected cost of bringing all buildings into acceptable condition. The latest backlog maintenance figures, including for Bedford and Luton and Dunstable hospitals, are available at the following link:
The Government is committed to improving our hospital estate, and that is why my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that £30 billion in capital funding will be invested over five years in the day-to-day maintenance and repair of the NHS estate, with over £5 billion specifically allocated to address the most critical building repairs.
At a local level, individual NHS organisations are responsible for maintaining their estates within their capital and revenue budgets, as set out in NHS Planning Guidance.