A long-running proposal for a new primary care centre in Kempston remains dependent on securing funding despite years of preparatory work, members of the Bedford Borough Health and Wellbeing Board heard.
Speaking as a Kempston West ward councillor at the meeting on Wednesday (10 June), cllr James Valentine (Labour) said: “Kempston has been pursuing improved primary care facilities for well over a decade.
“As a town of around 22,000 residents with an ageing population and significant pockets of deprivation, the need is both long-standing and well-established.”
Cllr Valentine welcomed Kempston’s inclusion in a proposed pipeline of neighbourhood health centre schemes across the Central and East region.
“However, Kempston is not starting from scratch – local councillors, Bedford Borough Council and the former BLMK ICB [Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board] have already undertaken a substantial amount of preparatory work,” he said.
“A strategic outline case identified the former police station on the site on Halsey Road as the preferred location and Bedford Borough Council subsequently agreed to acquire the site.
“Given that some schemes on the proposed neighbourhood health centre pipeline are reportedly still at the early concept stage, can you confirm that the ICB is fully aware of the extensive preparatory work already completed in Kempston, including the availability of the developed business case, and potentially deliverable site?” he asked.
“And will you commit to ensuring that the Kempston proposal is given appropriate priority as funding opportunities emerge?”
£17 million
In response, Maria Wogan, director for neighbourhood health and partnerships for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes at the new Central East ICB, said: “We are aware of all the work that’s been done on this business case.
“I think the best case scenario is about £17 million investment, and at the moment, in terms of what’s available to the ICB, that’s well in excess of our access to capital for these kind of schemes.
“But we will support and continue to work with the council on looking at all funding opportunities for this scheme.”
The discussion then turned to national funding for neighbourhood health centres.
Ms Wogan said the Government’s neighbourhood health centre capital programme amounted to £150 million nationally over three years, equivalent to £50 million per year.
She said that if the funding were allocated on a “fair share” basis, the Central East area might receive around £2 million to £3 million, which she said would be “nowhere near enough” to fund a scheme such as the one proposed for Kempston.
Ms Wogan added that the Government had proposed options, including public-private financing for new developments and said the Integrated Care Board would work with developers and the council to explore available options.
She told the board she would be happy to return with an update once further information had been received.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
