To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 20 June 2007, Official Report, column 1375W, on engagements, what the evidential basis is for the statement that (a) in 1997, 50 per cent. of the NHS estate was older than the NHS itself and (b) today, 20 per cent. of the NHS estate is older than the NHS itself. (147496)

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) undertakes a quinquennial valuation of the national health service estate. The VOA data from the 1995 survey showed that in that year, 49.5 per cent. of the NHS estate pre-dated 1948.

Information so far provided by the NHS itself, as part of the 2006-07 Estates Returns Information Collection process, shows that the proportion of the estate older than the NHS itself has fallen to 20.4 per cent.