Committee publication · Correspondence · 16 July 2026
Correspondence from Minister Smyth on the New Hospitals Programme Annual Report
Summary
Minister Karin Smyth notifies the Health and Social Care Committee of the publication of the first New Hospital Programme Annual Report for 2025/26, laying out progress across schemes at various development stages, governance strengthening measures, and delivery challenges including market capacity constraints and funding alignment. The report responds to NAO and PAC scrutiny and fulfils senior leadership commitments to annual programme reporting.
Key findings
- First annual New Hospital Programme report published following the January 2025 Plan for Implementation, covering 2025/26 financial year and establishing a baseline for future reporting
- Progress made across schemes at different delivery stages, with continued development of Hospital 2.0 (standardised design approach), the Hospital 2.0 Alliance commercial framework, and the Health Delivery Partnership
- RAAC replacement schemes (seven in total) flagged as key priority for the programme moving forward
- Major delivery challenges identified: scheme-specific obstacles, wider system reform requirements, market capacity constraints, and need to ensure alignment with available funding and value-for-money considerations
- Planned 2026/27 activity includes continued business case development, enabling works, and construction activity across all delivery waves
Tone
ProceduralTopics
public-financehealth-infrastructureprogramme-deliverygovernance
Key actors
Karin Smyth, Layla Moran, Samantha Jones, Jim Mackey, Health and Social Care Committee, National Audit Office, Public Accounts Committee, NHS England
Notable line
“… report also sets out the challenges associated with delivering a major, long-term infrastructure programme of this scale.”
Key Quotes
“The annual report provides an account of progress across the programme during the 2025/26 financial year and establishes a baseline for future annual reporting.”
“The seven Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) replacement schemes will remain a key priority for the programme.”
“These include scheme-specific delivery challenges, wider system reform, market capacity constraints and the need to ensure delivery remains aligned with available funding and value-for-money considerations.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗