NHS chiefs have received an unexpected £4million bill for the ‘empty space’ within East Lancashire’s health centres.

East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which manages health budgets, has lodged a dispute with Community Health Partnerships (CHP) over the figure, with finance chief Mark Youlton saying he ‘absolutely disagrees’ with it.

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CHP holds the main lease for about 300 primary care facilities around the country, including the St Peter’s Centre in Burnley, Yarnspinners in Nelson, and health centres in Bacup, Briercliffe, Rossendale and Accrington, receiving rental income from organisations that use the premises.

But where there is empty space within the buildings, CHP receives top-up cash from local commissioners to help cover the shortfall.

Mr Youlton, told the CCG board this week: “They’re looking for an extra £4million which I absolutely disagree with. I can’t see for the life of me where this is coming from and I’m in a dispute with them at present.”

After the board meeting, he said he had queried the figure with CHP but had struggled to receive any response.

There would be a significant impact if the CCG does have to pay the bill, with the failure to reach last year’s savings target of £10million an indication of the financial challenges already facing the organisation.

CHP said in a statement: “On April 1, 2013, Community Health Partnerships (CHP) took on responsibility for around 300 community and primary care properties that were previously held by Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities. Along with inheriting the head tenancy for these buildings, CHP also inherited the financial position from predecessor bodies.”

With regard to the delay in responding to the CCG, it said: “It appears that there has been a breakdown in communication with regards to the queries posed by East Lancashire CGG and we apologise for this and are now working to ensure that their queries are responded to.”