To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information the NHS Executive has on the number of hospitals in each region and in total in England at 1 April; [39387](2) what is the Department's definition of a hospital; [39388](3) if he will review the decision not to collect centrally the number of hospitals in England. [39389]
I refer the right hon. Member to reply I gave her on 16 May Official Report, columns 173–76. There are no plans to collect additional information centrally.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new hospitals were (a) begun and (b) completed in each year since 1974. [39391]
The information is not available centrally in the form requested. Information is collected on reported major capital projects, and this information is shown in the table.
| Capital schemes in the NHS | ||
| Calendar year | Start on site | Finish on site |
| 1980 | 16 | 8 |
| 1981 | 34 | 10 |
| 1982 | 44 | 15 |
| 1983 | 36 | 38 |
| 1984 | 51 | 32 |
| 1985 | 47 | 44 |
| 1986 | 52 | 38 |
| 1987 | 60 | 51 |
| 1988 | 70 | 65 |
| 1989 | 73 | 75 |
| 1990 | 56 | 66 |
| 1991 | 52 | 81 |
| 1992 | 51 | 63 |
| 1993 | 20 | 77 |
| 1994 | 61 | 55 |
Notes:
1. Information was first collected for starts on site after 1 January 1980.
2. Prior to 1 January 1986 reporting was on a voluntary basis for schemes with a works cost over £2 million.
3. Returns became mandatory for schemes with a works cost over £1 million from 1 January 1986.
4. With the introduction of the Capital Investment Manual (CIM), reporting thresholds were changed to over £1 million total cost from September 1994.