New Hospitals Scheme Delayed as Parties Point Fingers Over Funding

The article explores political clashes over NHS hospital funding. The Conservative-led New Hospitals Programme (NHP), promising 40 new hospitals by 2030, has faced delays and budget issues. Labour’s Wes Streeting announced revised plans with £15 billion funding but left questions about long-term commitments unanswered. The debate highlights concerns over delays, rising costs, and future spending, as both parties vie to rebuild public trust in NHS infrastructure promises.

Frontbenchers Squabble over Legacy of Funding

Over the last few elections, both the Conservatives and Labour have made big promises when it comes to NHS funding. From Boris Johnson standing beside the Brexit campaign bus, which carried the message of redirecting £350 million per week from EU contributions to the NHS, to the Tories 2019 manifesto promise to build 40 new hospitals, to Keir Starmer’s 2024 manifesto commitment to bring waiting lists down.    

Key to all these pledges was a cross party consensus that NHS hospitals up and down the country needed to be renovated or rebuilt. In October 2020, the Conservative Government announced the New Hospitals Program (NHP) with the task of building 40 new hospitals by 2030. 

However, critics pointed out that many of the proposed projects were extensions or refurbishments rather than entirely new hospitals. In the five years since the pledge, construction delays, budget shortfalls, and a lack of detailed planning plagued the program. By 2023, the National Audit Office confirmed that the 2030 goal was unattainable. Adding to the frustration, the Government’s own Infrastructure and Projects Authority ( IPA)  deemed the hospital-building initiative “unviable,” citing major issues with budget, scheduling, and project management.

Policy institute Curia UK delivered a ‘sprint’ roundtable designed to put staff at the forefront of the NHP. Please view our report by clicking the link below.

Yesterday, Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced at the dispatch Box that the funding for the NHP was due to run out in March, accusing the Tories of not securing funding and making promises they never intended to keep. Ed Argar, the Shadow Secretary of Health and Social Care, disputed this, maintaining that funding would always have continued, and accused Labour of breaking their own promise to maintain the NHP rather then.

In the main part of his speech, Streeting announced a revised timetable for the NHP, backed by substantial financial commitments made by the Treasury. A five-year wave of investment will see £15 billion allocated to new hospital projects by 2030, averaging £3 billion annually. This sum is supplemented by additional investments of £1 billion to address critical maintenance and safety issues, such as repairing roofs built with dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).This will also go alongside the £1.5 billion into new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and hospital beds that was announced by Rachel Reeves at the last budget. 

Timetable for New Construction

The updated hospital building plan is divided into distinct waves, as set out below: 

To accelerate progress and ensure efficient use of taxpayer money, the Government also announced a new construction framework. The approach involves standardised designs to reduce costs and timelines, collaborative partnerships with industry, and the appointment of a program delivery partner to oversee implementation.

Questions Still Unanswered 

Despite the statement in the House, there were still many questions raised about the new NHP. MP’s from both sides of the Commons who’s Hospitals are not part of the plan, asked the Secretary of State to begin the process of setting a timetable beyond 2040 so that local communities are reassured that their Hospitals will also see the investment they need. 

MP’s also urged Wes Streeting to review whether the delays were actually cost effective. Tim Farron, the former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, warned that further delays to work at his local Hospital could see not only rising costs but also loss of confidence from the public that the project would ever be completed. Kit Malthouse, Conservative MP for North West Hampshire queried how not providing immediate funding for some delayed projects could affect the actual implementation of a project, highlighting that without immediate funding the hospital in his constituency will likely to lose the land it had intended to purchase, which would lead to further delays.

Ed Argar, the Shadow Secretary of State, sought clarification as to whether further NHS infrastructure projects were under threat of delay if the current economic situation worsened, and what effect lengthening the NHP would have on inflation, both questions which Wes Streeting left unanswered. 

More Concerningly, the actual budget allocation for the NHP seems to have been set at £15 billion over 5 years, but no further. While the Secretary of State wrote in the implementation plan  it can be “ assumed” each wave will have £15 billion allocated to it, the reality is that the announcement only covers this Parliament, kicking the can on future spending down the road. This may well be seen as hypocritical as it is exactly what Labour have accused the Conservatives of doing on this issue. 

Final Thought: Rebuilding Trust Through Action

What was clear throughout the announcement made by Wes Streeting was that Labour aims to right the wrong of broken promises by the Government. By setting out this plan, Streeting said it aimed to bring  “patients an honest, realistic and deliverable timetable that they can believe in.”

Labour certainly see improving health as a crucial pillar ahead of the general election, with the Government’s 10 year mission for the NHS due to be announced later this year. However, the delays will come as a blow to many local communities, who may lose further confidence in the state’s ability to work for them.

Delays could also end up costing more money than they save, with Hospitals at further risk of deterioration or losing out on key assets such as land needed for the redevelopments. The biggest question mark will be whether Labour do indeed commit to £15 billion each in waves 3 & 4 in future spending reviews. Failure to do this will see Labour being accused of hypocrisy while potentially leading to further delays for new hospitals past 2040.