The latest available figures provided by the NHS Business Services Authority show that there were 99,549 students attending a university in England who received an NHS Bursary payment in the financial year 2014/15. Of the students receiving an NHS Bursary payment, 48 provided their current address with a postcode in the Withington constituency of Greater Manchester.

In April 2014, Public Health England and the Department published guidance to commissioners for services to school aged children, Maximising the school nursing team contribution to the public health of school-aged children.

Each year Health Education England (HEE) provide local and national forecasts of the supply that will arise over the next five years and use these forecasts to discuss with stakeholders whether this supply will match the system's view of future demand including the extent to which any current shortages will be addressed. This analysis and discussion is then used to identify whether any changes are required to the volumes of training commissioned by HEE.

Consideration of the impact of rising school rolls will feed into HEE’s planning, though the final training settlement for 2017/18 is under negotiation.

The Government assessment undertaken to date is that nursing is consistently one of the most popular courses on University Central Administration Service with 57,000 applicants for around 20,000 nursing places in 2014. Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses receive higher than average applications as well.

Health Education England (HEE) funding for healthcare students is currently determined at a local level based on local need and is subject to annual workforce planning. For 2016-17, HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan for 2016-17. HEE will set out its plans for 2017/18 training commissions in its next annual Commissioning and Investment Plan or Workforce Plan for England which is expected to be published in December 2016 prior to the start of the financial year.

We estimate that this reform will enable universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing and other health professional training places this Parliament. This reflects estimates on the level of unmet demand for places in the current system where, as an example, for nursing, around two out of three nursing applicants who currently apply for a place are turned down.

Under the reforms full time students will have access to more upfront living cost support, typically 25% or more.

A public consultation was published on the 7 April 2016. Preliminary Equalities Impact Analysis and Economic Impact Assessment were published alongside the consultation document.

The total cost of NHS bursaries paid to medical, nursing and midwifery and allied health professional (AHP) students in financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15, the latest year for which figures are available, is shown in the following table.

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

The figures include all bursary elements (Basic Award, allowances and one-off payments) paid directly to students or to 3^rd party providers of services for disabled students. Excludes tuition fees paid directly to Higher Education Institutions to meet the tuition fee liability of students studying medicine.

During the financial year of 2014-15 there were a total of 90 students studying an AHP course at the University of Central Lancashire who were in receipt of an NHS bursary. It is not possible to separately identify the number of bursary recipients at other AHP course providers in Lancashire, as these are campus based, with information captured as part of the figures for the main site, all of which fall outside of Lancashire. These figures are therefore excluded.

During the financial year 2014-15 there were a total of 773 students studying social work at the University of Central Lancashire and at Lancaster University who were in receipt of a social work bursary.

The total cost of NHS bursaries paid to medical, nursing and midwifery and allied health professional (AHP) students in financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15, the latest year for which figures are available, is shown in the following table.

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

The figures include all bursary elements (Basic Award, allowances and one-off payments) paid directly to students or to 3^rd party providers of services for disabled students. Excludes tuition fees paid directly to Higher Education Institutions to meet the tuition fee liability of students studying medicine.

During the financial year of 2014-15 there were a total of 90 students studying an AHP course at the University of Central Lancashire who were in receipt of an NHS bursary. It is not possible to separately identify the number of bursary recipients at other AHP course providers in Lancashire, as these are campus based, with information captured as part of the figures for the main site, all of which fall outside of Lancashire. These figures are therefore excluded.

During the financial year 2014-15 there were a total of 773 students studying social work at the University of Central Lancashire and at Lancaster University who were in receipt of a social work bursary.

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

Students undertaking clinical pharmacy diplomas are not eligible for NHS Bursary funding.

Health Education England (HEE), North West, provides a range of education support primarily focused around the required pre-registration year through the provision of salary support for hospital based trainees. HEE (North West) also supports access to funded continuing professional development for clinical pharmacists. The clinical pharmacy diploma, which is not a requirement in order to practice independently, is not funded in the North West by HEE in terms of either fees or bursaries.

The UK Armed Forces do not currently provide any training to security and Armed Forces personnel of Burundi or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We provide some limited training to the Rwandan Armed Forces, largely at the Rwandan Peace Academy and Staff College and through occasional places at UK staff colleges. This training is in support of security sector reform and effective and compliant Rwandan contributions to peace support and disaster relief operations.

We also deliver training to the African Union's Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF), as part of our effort to build the EASF's capacity to conduct peace support operations. This training includes elements such as protection of civilians and civil and military cooperation. Some Burundian and Rwandan Armed Forces personnel attached to the EASF may attend this training.

It is not possible to predict with certainty how many midwives currently studying in the United Kingdom will successfully complete their training in 2016. All students studying midwifery need to successfully complete their course and pass their exams in order to complete their training and graduate from their courses.

Health Education England forecast that the total number of midwives due to complete their training in 2016 is 1,902.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Area reviews of post-16 education are focused on meeting the needs of learners in each area, and because they are overseen by steering groups including Chairs and Principals of colleges as well as local authorities, they are well placed to do this. The steering group’s discussions and recommendations are based on the best available evidence, including an analysis of local economic and educational needs and the mapping of current curriculum provision and travel to learn patterns. Recommendations made by the steering group, including mergers, should improve access to better quality teaching delivered by sustainable institutions focused on meeting learner need.

Local authorities are members of area review steering groups and have statutory responsibility for transport to education and training for 16- to 19-year-olds. We expect local authorities to make reasonable decisions about the support they offer based on the needs of their young people, local transport infrastructure and the resources they have available. Authorities will need to take account of the recommendations arising from each area review and the impact on transport for learners. We will reflect this in the next version of the post-16 transport statutory guidance which we plan to update in the autumn.

Most young people already have access to some kind of discount or concession on bus or train travel, either from their local authority, local transport providers, or from their school or college, and we would expect this to continue following any changes to post-16 provision as a result of area reviews. The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund will continue to be available to support those young people who most need it, with the costs of attending post-16 education or training such as transport and meals.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

We are clear that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. On 1 April we published updated multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM including information to help professionals understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and what action they should take. In addition, free e-learning is available to all professionals, providing training on how to recognise and respond to FGM. To date the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. In addition, the Department of Health’s £3M FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the NHS response and includes free e-learning for healthcare professionals. A new mandatory reporting duty requiring regulated health and social care professionals and teachers to report known cases of FGM in under 18s to the police came into force on 31 October 2015. Professionals encountering instances of FGM in women over 18, or who believe that a girl or woman is at risk, should follow established safeguarding procedures. Anyone who is concerned that a girl or woman has undergone FGM or is at risk can contact the NSPCC FGM helpline. Reports to this helpline can be made anonymously. The Home Office’s Border Force plays a vital role in helping to identify and protect potential victims of FGM travelling to and from the UK. Border Force work with the police in protecting girls and young women at risk of FGM, including carrying out joint operations. FGM Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were fast-tracked for implementation last July and are being used to protect girls at risk of FGM, including those who may be taken abroad. Ministry of Justice data released on 31 March shows 32 FGMPOs were issued between July and December 2015.

The report of the National Maternity Review: Better Births, published earlier this year, set out wide-ranging proposals designed to make care safer and give women greater control and more choices. Multi-professional education and training were among a number of recommendations that the report made.

Health Education England (HEE) has established a Maternity Safety Steering Group (MSSG) which first met in December 2015. The MSSG has representatives from the Department of Health, NHS Litigation Authority, NHS England, Public Health England, the Royal Colleges, Institute of Health Visitors, Perinatal Institute for Maternal and Child Health and British Association of Perinatal Medicine. The group works in collaboration to consider what training programmes are available and used in trusts, and to identify appropriate training packages to cover all aspects of maternity safety.

NHS England is working closely, and will continue to have regular discussions, with partners across the system to discuss multi-professional and multi-disciplinary training, including the Royal Colleges, HEE and the Department. These discussions include the implementation of the recommendations of the National Maternity Review report.

The report of the National Maternity Review: Better Births, published earlier this year, set out wide-ranging proposals designed to make care safer and give women greater control and more choices. Multi-professional education and training were among a number of recommendations that the report made.

Health Education England (HEE) has established a Maternity Safety Steering Group (MSSG) which first met in December 2015. The MSSG has representatives from the Department of Health, NHS Litigation Authority, NHS England, Public Health England, the Royal Colleges, Institute of Health Visitors, Perinatal Institute for Maternal and Child Health and British Association of Perinatal Medicine. The group works in collaboration to consider what training programmes are available and used in trusts, and to identify appropriate training packages to cover all aspects of maternity safety.

NHS England is working closely, and will continue to have regular discussions, with partners across the system to discuss multi-professional and multi-disciplinary training, including the Royal Colleges, HEE and the Department. These discussions include the implementation of the recommendations of the National Maternity Review report.

The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme has been set up by Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England as a one year pilot scheme to support recruitment of general practitioner trainees in the 109 training places in England that have been hard to recruit to for the past three years.

Recruitment is currently ongoing and 2016 fill rates will be published on the HEE website once recruitment has closed.

What assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals to reform the NHS bursary on future levels of recruitment into the medical professions.

I would like to congratulate my friend the leader of the Scottish Conservative party, who has led the extraordinary resurgence of Conservatism and Unionism north of the border.

I regret very much that the SNP is not endorsing our plan to give opportunity to thousands more people who want to become nurses, especially those from under-privileged backgrounds. We will of course monitor the reform, not only as we continue our process towards making a decision, taking account of all the equalities analysis that will be done in the interim, but after the final decision has been made.

I am certain that the Minister will want to congratulate the SNP on sweeping spectacularly to a historic third successive term, all on a manifesto pledge to protect rather than abolish the nursing bursary in Scotland. The serious question is this: how does the

Secretary of State plan to monitor the impact that the removal of the bursary might have on students from poorer backgrounds who are training as nurses in England?