§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much investment his Department proposes to make at University Hospital Birmingham; and what facilities of his Department are planned to be developed there. [141381]
§ Dr. MoonieWe are currently in the process of establishing the new Centre for Defence Medicine (CDM), which will have important academic, teaching, and clinical functions, in partnership with University Hospital Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust and others. Some£1 million is being spent on the refurbishment of a building at UHB's Selly Oak Hospital to provide headquarters accommodation for the CDM, but apart from this the centre will use existing facilities belonging to the trust and its academic and clinical partner. In the long-term it is intended that it will also use infrastructure constructed as part of UHB's planned Private Finance Initiative hospital development. This will involve no direct investment by the Ministry of Defence.
It is possible, but not yet certain, that the MOD will need to invest in new domestic accommodation for personnel at the CDM, but this would not involve UHB. As it might be the subject of contractual negotiations, I am withholding our internal estimate of costs under exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.