Lib Dems call for GP guarantee on new housing developments

Housing developers in England should be forced to ensure GP services are available for use by residents before they move into new homes, the Liberal Democrats have proposed. The Lib Dems say they would pass a new law that would require developers to fund, build, or expand existing GP surgeries in time for the arrival of new residents. The GP services near these new homes would be funded by taxes levied on developers, the party says. The party says local authorities and NHS boards would have a duty to identify where extra GP provision is needed to support residents living in new housing developments. Taxes on housing developers in the UK are already used to fund local infrastructure, including GP surgeries. For example, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) in England and Wales can be used to fund a wide range of amenities, including transport, flood defences, schools, hospitals, and other health and social care facilities. But recent research by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) estimated that local authorities in England and Wales had left unspent more than £9bn of developer contributions, intended to fund essential local infrastructure. The HBF said the sums that remain unspen