Agenda item

The Chairman reported that the following question had been received under Standing Order 7:

Question by Cllr. Ramsay Ross:

On 19 June 2024 a BBC news article reported that there were plans to replace the Bradgate Unit at Glenfield Hospital and build a new mental health treatment unit on the same site with more modern facilities. The article stated that a planning application had been submitted to Blaby District Council and would be considered by their planning committee on 13 June 2024. On reading this article I requested further information from Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) about the plans. I was informed that LPT did not currently have any capital to build the new unit with and had therefore applied for outline planning permission to demonstrate to the NHS that this was a realistic plan and once planning permission had been granted the plan was to make a case for funding and develop the next round of business cases etc.  This whole process could take up to 10 years. I thank LPT for this information.

I now ask the following questions:

1)           The need for Long-term Planning and the Effective Use of Funds - Most large businesses have plans that allow them to bring forward, at relatively short-notice based upon economic circumstances, specific capital projects. Does the ICB have a long-term, integrated Capital Expenditure Plan extending over more than 10 years?

2)           Political Support for Priorities - Should this Committee and our residents not be concerned that the delivery of what I believe to be a relatively modest capital project, will take more than two Parliamentary terms?

Reply by the Chairman:

Information has been sought from Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) in relation to the questions from Cllr Ross. I have been informed that the issue of capital and funding falls mainly within the remit of the ICB. I understand that capital resources available to the ICB are not confirmed by central office beyond the end of 2024/25.

Capital resources that are available to the ICB on an annual basis are for business-as-usual (BAU) capital and are extremely limited.  The value of the capital BAU allocation is less than the depreciation costs of the assets – this means the ICB prioritise resources to replace/maintain the current equipment/buildings rather than considering significant strategic re-developments/new builds.

Significant capital projects such as the Bradgate Unit proposals require national funds, and support and approval by the national team for local use (e.g. new Hospital Programme). 

The ICB inform that together with NHS partners they consider together how, by pooling the limited resources they are assigned by NHS England, they may be able to support schemes alongside the operational capital requirements. Work currently underway is as follows:

• A draft LLR Infrastructure Strategy will be submitted to NHS England this month and will set out the priorities and a framework that the ICB will use to continue to prioritise effectively going forwards. This strategy includes the new Bradgate Unit and it will be included in the LLR list of capital requests for future funding. The importance of the strategy is that it details the future thinking of the system – it does not guarantee funding.  All systems will submit strategies and they will be collated by NHS England and form part of the discussions with Treasury for the Comprehensive Spending Review.
• A 3-year outline capital plan (which will be mainly focussed on operational capital that will include some strategic schemes funded in a phased approach over several years). 

To deliver a scheme from proposal to completion does take time. The following website may help to understand the process: https://thepsc.co.uk/index.php/news-insights/entry/20-years-to-build-a-hospital-how-to-save-up-to-7.5m-by-speeding-up-design-and-approvals-for-new-hospitals-what-this-could-mean-for-the-new-hospital-programme#skip

The ICB and LPT would welcome support from elected members to make a case for why capital funding is needed in LLR, and offer to discuss the matter further with Cllr. Ross at a time of his convenience.