In a letter to Cllr Paul Harvey, Leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC), Mr Murphy called on BDBC to prioritise local GPs when allocating developer contributions.
It comes after research by his office discovered there was no functional route through Basingstoke’s planning system for the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to successfully bid for developer funding for local primary care infrastructure for nearly seven years. During this, housing development continued at scale while GP capacity struggled to keep up.
It was uncovered that, from at least 2018 onwards, BDBC rejected NHS requests for funds totalling at least £1.2m via S106 on new housing developments.
Labour MP Luke Murphy has urged the council to prioritise GPs (Image: Office of Luke Murphy MP)
Mr Murphy said: “Thanks to the previous Tory council’s lack of foresight, for almost seven years the NHS has been blocked from accessing funding to expand GP services using money developers are legally required to pay the council for local infrastructure.
“I’m calling on the council to put right this historic wrong and ensure that Basingstoke council prioritises our local GPs and primary care infrastructure when allocating developer contributions.
“That means approving the current bid put forward by the ICB for desperately needed funds for the expansion required at Chineham Medical Practice. There must also be sufficient capital allocated in future budgets to support other healthcare facilities, including a long-overdue health centre in Winklebury.”
Mr Murphy has called on the council to approve the proposal submitted by the ICB to allocate £1,391,396 of funds collected from housing developers in an upcoming meeting of the council’s cabinet and full council. This funding would allow Chineham Medical Practice, which faces some of the most acute capacity issues with its premises, to expand.
He urged for the full £1,391,396 requested by the NHS and to work with him and local health leaders to ensure future housing growth is properly supported by adequate GP infrastructure.
He also sought reassurance from the council that it is confident that there will be sufficient funds to support further health infrastructure requests arising from continued housing development across the town.
Mr Murphy has also written to the minister for planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, and the minister for social care, Stephen Kinnock MP, following a request to explore how national policy can better align housing delivery with health infrastructure needs.
The borough council has been asked for a comment.