Health Centres: Littlehampton
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will ask NHS England to establish and publish (a) whether the future use and disposal of the land adjoining Littlehampton Health Centre at Fitzalan Road was considered by (i) the board and (ii) a committee of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, (b) the dates and outcomes of any such consideration and (c) the names and job titles of Trust representatives involved in discussions about that disposal.
Answered by Department of Health and Social Care
The land adjoining Littlehampton Health Centre at Fitzalan Road has been vacant since the former Littlehampton Hospital closed in 2003 and it was transferred to NHS Property Services in 2013.
In August 2024, NHS Property Services wrote to the integrated care board (ICB) setting out plans for the sale of the land and inviting discussion on reinvestment. The ICB engaged local National Health Service providers, including primary care, through its routine estates working groups, and found no provider with both a clinical requirement for the site and the capital needed to develop it. On 11 November 2024, the ICB confirmed to NHS Property Services that the land was surplus to NHS operational requirements, in its role as the local clinical commissioner, and this position was reconfirmed by the ICB in December 2025. The land was entered on the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land on 6 November 2024, and no public sector body expressed an interest during the 40-working-day circulation period, which ended on 6 January 2025. A Property Vacation Notice was not completed, as this is not a requirement for land. NHS Property Services has confirmed that the land is classified as tail estate and is therefore not eligible for transfer under the Department’s Asset Transfer Policy.
Property agents were appointed in January 2026, and the site was marketed for sale from May 2026. NHS Property Services is now in early-stage discussions with an interested party and is working to agree heads of terms, although no offer has yet been accepted, and the final sale value will not be known until a sale completes.
If the sale completes, NHS Property Services has committed to reinvest 100 per cent of the net proceeds in the local area, including funding investment in Littlehampton Health Centre, in line with the ICB's priorities. Zachary Merton Hospital has been managed by Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust since August 2023, and any capital investment in that building would be a matter for the trust and the ICB through NHS capital planning routes. NHS Property Services and the ICB are not aware of, and do not hold, any money previously raised or donated for replacement healthcare provision in Littlehampton.
Decisions on whether NHS land is surplus to requirements are a matter for the local NHS system, in particular the ICB in its role as clinical commissioner, rather than for the Department. Detailed responses on the matters raised by the Hon Member have already been provided to her directly by NHS Property Services, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, and the ICB, who have committed to keep her and the local community updated as the sale process and reinvestment plans progress. Where possible any additional documents the MP has requested will be provided in due course.
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