£514,000 of funds to pay for infrastructure set to be returned to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth by the city council

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is required to make a £514,000 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payment as part of the 2021 planning permission for the development.

A council report recommends councillors approve the a repayment of the sum – the third of its kind in the last 14 months – but also requests they write to the trust to urge it to consider these costs in budgets for any future projects.

CIL is charged by councils on new developments to fund infrastructure, such as schools, roads, flood defences and healthcare, linked to increased pressure these schemes put on public services. In Portsmouth, new hospital floorspace is liable for payments.

This position has been challenged by the trust whose latest letter says it believed this was ‘not intended and inadvertently rests outside the spirit of the [levy]’.

In a letter to the council’s director of adult social care Andy Biddle in February, the trust’s project manager for the new emergency department, Simon Wilson, warned that paying the levy risked its ability to complete the project.

‘I cannot stress enough how significant this is in terms of its impact on my organisation’s ability to continue to meet the demands of the post pandemic issues over and above the day-to-day demand that presents at our front door,’ he said.

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But a report published ahead of next week’s meeting of the city council’s cabinet says: ‘CIL is part of the expected infrastructure costs of any significant project and is a levy to compensate for the full range of additional public infrastructure requirements that will arise from developments and will fall to the council.

‘The part of the NHS responsible for resourcing any future funding allocation for major projects locally, should therefore include any future CIL contribution as part of the budget it provides for the project.’

Despite this, the council has said it is open to returning payments made for projects included in the trust’s ongoing projects. Last year, just £1m was returned to the trust to fund a patient garden and car parking improvements.

On Tuesday (Jun 27) cabinet members will be asked to approve a grant of £437,000 before a final decision is made by the full council the following month.

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The trust said this money would contribute to the cost of building the new emergency department and help fund a new £1m CT scanner. This machine is due to be ordered later this year to ensure it arrives ahead of the planned opening of the new department in November next year.