Sadiq Khan selling off Londons NHS land
Just when you think Sadiq Khan couldn't become more annoying he is now literally selling of NHS land as part of the Tories Naylor report. How very Pro Capitalist anti Labour.
What is the Naylor Report?
A summary of the plans behind Theresa May's big NHS property sell-off
This story has been simmering online that Theresa May won't like. So what does the Naylor Review say? This is why you need to know about it.
the Naylor Review - a dry 46-page NHS estate rationalisation study published two months ago.
So why has this boring-sounding document become news now?
And should be worried about it?
Well, technically it's called the Naylor Review.
It is a 46-page report published on March 31 by Sir Robert Naylor, former boss of the NHS trust that runs University College London Hospital.
Tory Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt asked him to look independently at what should be done with 'surplus' NHS property and crumbling old buildings.
Now, in the main bit of Sir Robert's dossier, he recommends selling around £2billion of NHS land to build 26,000 homes. This could hit £5billion if extended to "high-value" sites in London.
This could equal 5 million square metres of NHS estate - more than three times the size of London's Hyde Park. Ideas in the report include selling part of car parks and making the other part multi-storey.
The report suggests getting rid of inefficient buildings will let the NHS save £500million a year in maintenance and fund backlogged repairs, currently worth about £5billion.
NHS land is controlled by publicly-owned firm NHS Property Services Ltd since the Tories' last controversial shake-up - the Health and Social Care Act. New homes would be prioritised for NHS staff.
In a little-noticed comment at the time, Theresa May confirmed the Tories will back the report if they win the election.
She told the BBC's Andrew Neil: "There’s a report that was done on the NHS, the Naylor Report, which set out what was needed.
"And we’re backing the proposals in the Naylor Report."
She said it would release £10billion from "a variety of sources", including land sales, to fund "the most ambitious programme on investment and buildings and technology the NHS has ever seen".
That triggered a slow building of online reaction, with a video about it shared by singer Charlotte Church and a story being shared on left-wing site Evolve Politics.
Why is it controversial?
Hospitals that don't sell land will be punished
Providers that fail to draw up "sufficiently stretching plans... should not be granted access to capital funding," the report says.
That means building and repair projects face being strangled off if they don't flog some of their land.
And they'll be 'bribed' to sell up fast
The report calls for "urgent action to accelerate" land sales.
So hospitals will get a "2-for-1 offer" - meaning if a hospital gets a sale, the government steps in and doubles the cash.
This bonus money would be paid to the hospitals - not to private developers - supposedly to finance building projects.
But the cash will be offered on a "first come first served basis" for a limited time, probably five years.
This has sparked fears of hospitals selling off land to private developers cheaply, or in a badly thought-through way, in their rush to get the funds.
Campaigners say it's a "bribe" to shed NHS assets quickly.
