§ Andy KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government achieved their target of reducing disrepair on the NHS estate by 25 per cent. between April 1999 and March 2004; what the total repair backlog on the NHS estate was in(a) March 2003 and (b) March 2004; and if this information is not currently available, when will he make it available. [182459]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonNHS estates collects data on backlog maintenance from national health service trusts through its estates return information collection. The latest data relate to 2002–03 and this remains the subject of a statistical validation exercise, which will be completed shortly. Once the validation exercise is complete I will write to my hon. Friend.