House of Commons – April 23, 2025 – c.1118.1.5

The Deputy Speaker declared the main Question, as amended, to be agreed to (Standing Order No. 31(2)). Resolved, That this House regrets the appalling state of repair of NHS hospitals across the country;

notes that the NHS maintenance backlog rose to £13.8 billion in 2023-24;

further notes the sustained pattern of cannibalising NHS capital budgets to keep day-to-day services running;

condemns the previous Government’s record of starved repair budgets and exploding maintenance backlogs, which made sewage leaks, cracked walls, crumbling ceilings and sinking floors commonplace;

further condemns the previous Government for launching the New Hospitals Programme with no realistic plan to fund or deliver it;

also notes that the Chancellor has announced new fiscal rules to ensure capital budgets can no longer be cannibalised, with transfers from capital to resource budgets not permitted;

recognises that the previous Government left a New Hospital Programme which was unfunded, unrealistic and undeliverable;

welcomes that the Government has taken action to review that Programme and has published the New Hospital Programme Plan for Implementation, to put the Programme on a sustainable footing;

supports the Government’s investment in the Plan, which will increase to up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging around £3 billion a year from 2030;

and further supports the work being done to bring forward construction of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete replacement schemes wherever possible, to ensure that patient and staff safety is prioritised.