Councillors in Reading have engaged in a war of words over a decade-long delay to the promised new Royal Berkshire Hospital project.
The NHS Trust that runs the hospital in Reading was selected by the previous Conservative government as one of 40 Trusts that would benefit from a brand-new hospital.
However, the Royal Berkshire Hospital project has been delayed until 2035-39 following a review by the Labour government.
Councillor Raj Singh (Conservative, Kentwood) introduced a motion at a full meeting of Reading Borough Council expressing “deep concern” about the decade-long delay, and calling on the Labour administration to lobby MPs and health secretary Wes Streeting for a realistic delivery timeline.
Cllr Singh, leader of the Tory group on the council, said: “It’s a promise Labour made, and as they usually do, completely failed to keep.
“Our hospital is running on fumes.”
He also accused Matt Rodda, the MP for Reading Central, Olivia Bailey, the MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire and Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley of broken promises, as they pledged that the new hospital programme would be continued by the Labour government.
The motion was amended by the ruling Labour group, in recognition that the council is already in contact with the three Labour MPs for Reading.
Labour councillors also accused Conservatives of failing to properly fund the New Hospital Programme, with the delay being realistic due to the financial circumstances.
Liz Terry (Labour, Coley), the council leader said: “This motion is simply out of date or not relevant.
“We are all disappointed that the Royal Berkshire Hospital is in the New Hospital Programme but it has been pushed back.
“There is no getting away from that, it is disappointing. It has resolved the uncertainty that cllr Singh refers to, but this motion is missing the point.
“Listening to cllr Singh I kind of want to know where he’s been for the last 14 years!
“The Conservative government promised 40 new hospitals, but failed to plan for them, and more importantly failed to budget for them.
“It was a fantasy, we all know it was fantasy, it’s raised expectations without any intention of delivering, and it was an insult to all our intelligence.”
Speaking for the Greens, the leading opposition party on the council, cllr Dave McElroy (Green, Redlands) said: “When you talk to residents they are afraid about this, for their relatives, for their kids and grandkids.
“While Conservative and Labour governments come and go and their broken promises remain the same, the public get the same raw deal.”
He went on to call the Labour amendment ‘arrogant’ and ‘dismissive’, clarifying the Greens would support cllr Singh’s motion despite it being “brazen.”
Similarly, cllr James Moore (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) accused both Labour and the Conservatives of hypocrisy, stating that the Liberal Democrats would abstain.
Meanwhile, cllr Sarah Hacker (Independent, Battle) said that she was ‘salty’ that a promised health centre in Oxford Road was never delivered after a primary care trust withdrew from that project.
The amended motion was approved at the full council meeting on Tuesday, January 28.
