asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the annual expenditure, in 1987 prices, from 1975–76 to date on repair, maintenance and improvement work on the English National Health Service estate; what is his Department's estimate of the expenditure needed to bring the condition of the English National Health Service estate to a fully reconditioned and repaired state, complying with up-to-date building standards, not including the reconditioning of parts of the estate for which there is no intention to recondition or repair, but where the proper course is demolition or disposal, or the expected depreciation of the estate in the current financial year; what is his Department's estimate of the annual expenditure to prevent the English National Health Service estate's condition from deteriorating, excluding those parts of the estate for which there is no intention to recondition or repair, but where the proper course is demolition or otherwise disposal; and what is the capital value of National Health Service buildings in England.
[pursuant to her reply, 13 May 1987]: The available information is as follows.
Hospital and community health service revenue expenditure on maintenance in England
| |||
Building at 1987–88 prices
| Engineering at 1987–88 prices
| Total at 1987–88 prices
| |
£
| £
| £
| |
| 1975–76 | 172,092 | 346,792 | 518,884 |
| 1976–77 | 158,064 | 240,066 | 398,130 |
| 1977–78 | 183,588 | 249,017 | 432,605 |
| 1978–79 | 186,876 | 255,845 | 442,721 |
| 1979–80 | 173,281 | 266,371 | 439,652 |
| 1980–81 | 188,749 | 277,741 | 466,490 |
| 1981–82 | 202,117 | 293,478 | 495,595 |
| 1982–83 | 190,415 | 295,126 | 485,541 |
| 1983–84 | 191,722 | 300,831 | 492,553 |
| 1984–85 | 190,998 | 300,327 | 491,325 |
| 1985–86 | 177,530 | 291,237 | 468,767 |
| 1986–87 | n/y/a | ||
Information is not routinely collected on the cost of bringing the NHS estate in England up to the state as described in the question. Nor are separate estimates collected of the annual expenditure required to prevent deterioration. However, an exercise carried out in 1985 indicated that it would cost £1·7 billion to bring the whole estate up to a standard where the element was sound, operationally safe and exhibiting only minor deterioration. The capital value of the estate in England was given in my reply to the hon. Member on 4 February 1987 at column 702.