HC Deb 02 May 1977 vol 931 cc19-21W
Mr. Gourlay

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the future health service building programme.

Mr. Millan

, pursuant to his reply—[Official Report, 7th April 1977; Vol. 929, c. 653], gave the following information:

The programme of major hospital building projects announced by my predecessor on 20th April 1970, with additions announced on 22nd June 1971 and 25th April 1972, now requires extensive updating and revision and, at my request, health boards have carried out a review of the schemes which they inherited from the regional hospital boards and on which building has not yet begun. Boards were asked to submit proposals for adjustments to the programme to take account of changes in planning timetables or in the priorities which schemes were designed to meet. In addition to reviewing hospital projects, they were also invited to submit proposals relating to larger health centres for possible inclusion in the major programme.

I have now examined proposals submitted to me by the health boards in the light of the resources likely to be available for the major building programme in the years immediately ahead and I am authorising the boards to continue planning or to put in hand, at the appropriate time, the planning of the major schemes in the three bands listed below. These bands are not related to financial or calendar years but denote the order in which schemes are expected to start. It will be possible to move schemes from one band to another if this is considered necessary in the light of actual progress on planning and medical and other developments.

To facilitate the longer-term planning of the development and rationalisation of hospital services, I am also authorising health Boards to institute, as resources permit, preliminary planning on a number of schemes at the hospitals in the provisional list below. These provisional schemes will be subject to subsequent review.

Health boards are also being authorised to proceed with the planning of the health centres listed below which have been accepted for financing from the major building programme.

In addition to the schemes in the major programme, health boards, from their ordinary building programme allocations, finance smaller schemes selected by them on their own decisions about priorities.