NEWS that Airedale Hospital's rebuild can go ahead has been welcomed.

The Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed that the scheme won't be affected by the Government's current review of the New Hospital Programme.

A department spokesperson said those hospitals with approved full business cases or that were wholly or mostly constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which was found to have a limited lifespan, are now "out of scope" – so can proceed.

The move means that 21 of the 46 schemes listed under the New Hospital Programme, including Airedale, have had the question mark lifted – although full business case approval will still be needed for each scheme to receive funding confirmation.

Foluke Ajayi, chief executive of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, welcomes the decision.

She says: "It is absolutely fantastic to have confirmation that Airedale Hospital is out of scope for the New Hospital Programme review and the scheme will be going ahead.

"With RAAC areas making up 83 per cent of our estate, we need a new hospital so we can continue providing services for our local communities; as such we have been carrying on with our work to prepare for having a new hospital in place by 2030.

"We are delighted that the need for a new Airedale Hospital has been recognised, and very grateful for the support we have had from our partners and the local communities.

"Our journey to our new hospital is now moving into the second stage, which is getting the site ready.

"We will also be continuing with the structural support programme across the hospital to ensure the safety of our patients, visitors and staff, until the time comes that we can move into our new hospital."

Keighley MP Robbie Moore says: "I am pleased that following additional lobbying in Parliament and the continued hard work of our fantastic Airedale NHS trust, we have now secured an assurance from the new Government that Airedale Hospital will no longer be a part of Labour’s New Hospital Programme 'review'.

"This means that plans for our new hospital will continue to proceed at pace – and my role will now be to ensure the works are completed by 2030, as previously announced.

"Since the general election, the new Labour Government has created unnecessary fear across our community through its announcement to review the Airedale Hospital rebuild programme.

"That’s why following the announcement I wrote directly to our new Health Secretary and raised the matter directly in the House of Commons with new Chancellor Rachel Reeves, urgently stressing the need to keep plans for our new hospital on track."

In a joint statement, Keighley Labour district councillors said: "We welcome this decision – it is the sensible and right thing to do for this community.

"We wrote to the Secretary of State Wes Streeting and Shipley MP Anna Dixon to lobby for this result and speak up for our residents.

"We're pleased we have been heard and that Keighley, Ilkley and the whole of the area will be able to access much-needed state-of-the-art facilities. We believe the new-build hospital will help reduce health inequalities across the area."

Former Keighley MP, John Grogan, says: "I am delighted that the promise made by Health Secretary Wes Streeting during the election campaign – that Airedale Hospital will be rebuilt, along with all the hospitals severely affected by RAAC – is going to be honoured. The truth is this success is the result of lobbying over many years by people from all political parties and none in affected communities across the country. The important thing is that patients will benefit for generations to come."

Bradford Council leader, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, said: "This is brilliant news and testament to the hard work of Keighley’s Labour councillors and Anna Dixon MP who got in there early with the new Government and made the unarguable case for the Airedale Hospital rebuild to be confirmed and for it to proceed quickly.

"These are difficult times for the new Labour Government because the outgoing Tory Government left a long unfunded fantasy list of promises of new hospitals without any funding or delivery plans to match. We’ve campaigned for years for a new hospital at Airedale and I’m delighted that in spite of the terrible financial challenges this Government has inherited, this vital rebuild has been secured."