A PETITION calling for confirmation that funding to build a new hospital for Basingstoke exists has been signed by almost 600 people.

Launched by Stacy Hart, the Women’s Equality Party borough council election candidate for Hatch Warren and Beggarwood, the petition calls for Dame Maria Miller – Basingstoke’s MP – to ‘show us the money’ and make sure the new hospital is funded in the Spring Budget on March 6.

As previously reported, fears have been raised that there is no funding to build a new hospital for Basingstoke after an inquiry found ‘no confidence’ that the government will deliver on its promise to build 40 new hospitals.

READ MORE: Fears raised that there is no funding for Basingstoke hospital

The highly critical Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report said the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) told members that the current funding for the New Hospital Programme (NHP) “does not include” hospitals in cohort 4 which have been delayed until the 2030s.

Plans to build a new Basingstoke hospital at either Junction 7 of the M3 or the current site in Aldermaston Road, are in cohort 4.

The DHSC also confirmed to the Gazette that the promised £900m funding for Basingstoke hospital is not guaranteed.

The PAC recommends that HM Treasury should agree explicitly in writing whether the cohort 4 schemes are to be met from the current agreed funding.

Since the petition launched, Dame Maria has taken to social media in an attempt to reassure the public that the funds are there, posting a video of her talking to Lord Markham, parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, who said the money is ‘ringfenced’.

SEE ALSO: Basingstoke MP under pressure to 'prove' new hospital funds

However, Stacy said Dame Miller has not addressed the questions about funding.

She said: “The reports from the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee demonstrate clearly that the £22bn currently allocated will fund only the ongoing early works associated with the new Basingstoke hospital. It won’t build and deliver a completed hospital for the people of Basingstoke and North Hampshire.”

Stacy added, “The crux of this issue is the obvious gap between the £22bn funding the Government has allocated, and the estimated £31-37bn that the entire project will cost. Senior sources from the New Hospitals Project and the Department of Health have clearly stated that the funding for hospitals completed after 2030, including the Basingstoke hospital, fall into that gap.

“Our petition is asking for a truly secure commitment to that additional funding in writing in the Spring Budget. We urge Hampshire residents to sign the petition, and to complete the ongoing HHFT consultation to support the great work that the hospital staff are doing.”

You can find the petition at bit.ly/wephospitalpetition.