Funding boost for national child health centre

Building work on the National Centre for Child Health Technology is expected to begin next month

Plans to build the "world’s most advanced" centre for child health at Sheffield's Olympic Legacy Park have taken a step forward with extra funding set to be approved for the project.

Sheffield City Council plans to hand over £8.8m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund for regeneration in Attercliffe to the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

The National Centre for Child Health Technology is one of the cornerstones of the council’s Attercliffe Levelling Up Fund plans.

The decision is set for approval at a meeting of the council’s finance and performance policy committee later.

A report to the committee said the project aimed to deliver the "world’s most advanced and integrated healthcare system for children, bringing together industry, academia, clinicians, patients and families to create high-value child healthcare products at pace".

The report said the scheme would "accelerate development" of the Olympic Legacy Park, creating "high-value" jobs and developing new companies.

It said the project would generate more than £2bn of value for the region’s economy.

The council has already agreed to a 250-year lease of the land to the NHS trust, with building work set to begin next month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The centre has received a total of £22m of funding, including from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and the Children’s Hospital Charity.

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