To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total investment in hospitals in each of the past three years; how many entirely new hospitals are now under construction; and how many hospitals were closed down in each of the past three years.

Health authority capital expenditure in the last three years has been as follows:

	£million
1988–89	1,082
1989–90	1,306
1990–91	1,514

There are 106 building schemes each costing over £1 million under construction. These include extensions and adaptations to existing hospitals as well as new schemes. There is no central record of the number of building schemes which are entirely new hospitals.Figures for hospital closures are no longer routinely collected centrally as changes in the use of buildings are not a good measure of services to patients provided by the NHS.