Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will to publish a timeline for releasing funds for the detailed design and enabling works required from West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and the other seven pathfinder trusts to help those trusts meet the New Hospital Programme’s timescale.

Individual allocations for trusts will be determined once the respective final business cases have been reviewed and agreed. The timing and amount of funding allocations for each scheme are dependent on trusts’ specific requirements. In total, pathfinder schemes have received public dividend capital of £94 million prior to the current financial year for fees and enabling works. In addition, pathfinder trusts have £117 million in confirmed allocations for 2021-22 and future years. Further requests for funding are currently being considered and will be subject to the appropriate governance process to ensure maximum value for taxpayers’ money.

The pathfinder schemes are currently anticipated to start construction between 2023-24 and complete in the period 2026-28.