The department has now achieved 71.6% of the 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers - 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in further education, than in 2024/25. Latest data also reported one of the lowest leaver rates on record of 8.5% and a record 17,740 teachers returning to the classroom.

While the department does not routinely publish recruitment and retention rates at a regional level, trends in the full-time equivalent teacher workforce suggest that regions have broadly followed the national pattern over time.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher recruitment and retention, is published annually in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical release, available on GOV.UK.

We recognise that student midwives are a vital part of our future workforce, providing essential care and support to women, babies and families across maternity services.

Temporary posts give providers flexibility to recruit ahead of turnover, so newly qualified midwives can start work quickly rather than waiting for vacancies. This period will be used to stabilise services and support newly qualified midwives into practice, with the expectation they move into permanent roles as vacancies arise through normal turnover.

The Office for Budget Responsibility produces its forecasts independently and is responsible for the assumptions underpinning them.

The Government is committed to increasing the UK's long-term growth potential.

The Government’s strategy to boost growth and improve productivity has been guided by three principles: restoring economic stability, increasing investment, and reforming the economy to remove barriers to growth.

We have made significant progress, including through implementing the Planning and Infrastructure Act and are backing businesses by delivering the modern Industrial Strategy. We have also introduced reforms to unlock private sector investment, including through legislative changes to the pensions system, and to strengthen the UK's skills base, such as by introducing the Growth and Skills Levy.

Last year, RTI-based productivity growth was 2.2 per cent, the fastest calendar year rate outside the pandemic in more than a decade. Whole economy investment has risen to 5.6% above its level at the start of this Parliament.

In the 2026 Mais Lecture, the Chancellor set out how the Government is going even further on this agenda with three big choices: empowering regional growth, embracing AI & innovation, and establishing a closer relationship with the EU.

Approximately a third of student midwives have no roles to go into when they qualify. We are determined to change that. We will boost maternity care with £10.6 million of investment, funding an additional 1,000 temporary roles to help newly qualified midwives join the National Health Service.

Roles will be created within local maternity services, where the need for safe staffing is greatest. Decisions will be made locally, with NHS England regions working with providers to ensure placements reflect demand, acuity, and access to strong early‑career support like preceptorship and supervision.

The primary source of financial support for students comes from the student support system through various loans and grants designed for their needs. Students are unable to claim Universal Credit if they are studying full-time, unless they meet specific exceptions such as being responsible for a child. Where eligible students make a claim for Universal Credit, income available to meet their everyday living costs such as a basic student maintenance loan are taken into account, avoiding duplication of support.

The Department is committed to supporting people to retrain, develop new skills and move into jobs in sectors experiencing workforce shortages. Jobcentre Plus works with employers to provide work experience and training placements, including Sector Based Work Academy Programme, helping people gain the experience and skills to fill these vacancies. In addition, we are offering up to 300,000 additional opportunities with priority referrals for young people as part of the Youth Guarantee.

I refer the Hon Member to Question 13301 answered on 30 June 2026 and to Question 15854 answered on 13 July 2026.

The Government has introduced reforms to the protection system to ensure that protection is provided where it is needed, while also creating a fair and sustainable immigration system.

With regards to costs and legal aid provision, only people who stay on Core Protection will have their status reviewed every 30 months, with a 20-year route to settlement. Those who switch into the work and study route will be able to earn down the 20-year period.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly. Renewal applications will be simple, negating the need for applicants to routinely require legal advice prior to applying.

We will build on efficiencies such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The full details of the Core Protection offer, and the Protection Work and Study route, remain subject to further policy development which will be set out in due course.

Those who need to seek immigration advice from an immigration adviser for help regarding permission to stay in the UK (including how to check the eligibility for legal aid which can help pay for legal advice) can find information here: Find an immigration adviser - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Legal aid is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

The Asylum and Immigration Bill provides powers to require adults who have received asylum support and accommodation to make a contribution towards those costs where they are financially able to do so. Detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds, exemptions, repayment rates, mechanisms for collection and operational delivery, will be set out in secondary legislation following Royal Assent. As these elements have not yet been finalised it would be premature to provide an estimate of future revenue. The Government will set out further information in due course.

Specialist resource, such as airspace designers, for the delivery of Airspace Modernisation are provided by private companies such as NATS. It is for NATS’ management to decide how to resource its operation and provide its services.

The Industry Training Boards (ITBs) play an important role in supporting skills development for the sectors that fall within the scope of their respective industries, as defined by legislation made under the Industrial Training Act 1982. Aviation engineering is not, however, included within the scope of either the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) or the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB).

The ITBs raise a levy on in-scope employers, which they use to make better provision for training within their industry. This includes identifying skills needs in their industries, maintaining occupational standards and competence, funding support for apprenticeships and skills training, promoting careers in their industries, helping employers recruit and retain new entrants, and investing in sector-specific skills programmes. These activities help ensure employers in their industries have access to the skilled workforces needed to meet current and future industry demand.

Both the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) engage regularly with operators as part of oversight activities and stakeholder meetings.

Current evidence through these engagements show that the approved maintenance organisations maintain sufficient numbers of licensed engineers to meet their operational requirements.

Aviation operates in the private sector, and it is for employers in the sector to ensure that they have the workforce skills they need to continue operating and expanding in future. Government and the CAA will continue to engage with the sector, and will consider options to intervene, when suitable and proportionate.

Further education (FE) providers are responsible for assessing the impact of staff vacancies and turnover in light of their local circumstances.

The government is taking action to strengthen recruitment and retention across the FE workforce and is committed to recruiting 6,500 additional teachers across FE colleges, secondary schools and special schools during this Parliament.

We recently announced additional funding of around £120 million in 2026/27, rising to around £365 million in 2027/28, to help colleges recruit and retain excellent teachers.

Our national recruitment campaign promotes careers in FE, while targeted retention incentives of up to £6,000 after tax are available for early-career teachers in priority shortage subjects. We also offer teacher training bursaries worth up to £31,000.

In addition, the Taking Teaching Further programme supports industry professionals moving into teaching. We will continue to monitor workforce recruitment and retention trends through the FE Workforce Data Collection.

Skills England published an updated assessment of current demand for occupations in 2025. This is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/occupations-in-demand/2025. The assessment, based on a range of indicators of employment demand, found that aerospace engineers were not experiencing elevated levels of demand in 2025.

Skills England also published its Annual Skills Report and Sector Skills Needs Assessment on 1 June 2026. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-england-annual-skills-report-and-sectoral-skills-needs-assessments-2026. The reports feature skills assessments of the Advanced Manufacturing sector and Defence sector, both of which include aerospace engineering as a priority occupation. In the recently published Skills Needs Assessments, Skills England estimate a growth of 6,000 workers for aerospace engineers across the Advanced Manufacturing and Defence sectors from 2025 to 2035.

Since 2018/19 starts have remained stable or grown in aviation-related apprenticeships. For example, starts in the aerospace engineer standard have increased from 140 in 2018/19 to 170 in 2024/25.

Specialist resource, such as airspace designers, for the delivery of Airspace Modernisation are provided by private companies such as NATS. NATS is a private company, and it is for its management to decide how to resource its operation and provide its services.

Officials and the Civil Aviation Authority are working closely with NATS to strengthen the pipeline of specialist airspace design capability, including through NATS internal training schemes and use of external expertise.

Specialist resource, such as airspace designers, for the delivery of Airspace Modernisation are provided by private companies such as NATS. NATS is a private company, and it is for its management to decide how to resource its operation and provide its services.

Officials and the Civil Aviation Authority are working closely with NATS to strengthen the pipeline of specialist airspace design capability, including through NATS internal training schemes and use of external expertise.

DCMS works closely with the Creative Industries Council (CIC), and in particular its Talent and Skills working group, to support government and industry’s work to address skills shortages and develop creative education pathways, furthering our Sector Plan ambition to build a resilient and highly skilled workforce that is responsive to the needs of the sector.

Recent discussions with the CIC have focused on the forthcoming Creative Industries Jobs Plan. The Jobs Plan will comprehensively set out the scale of the workforce challenge in the sector and how government, business and trade unions will work together to address this over the next three years. It is informed by the Creative Industries Skills Audits recently published by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and Work Advance, with funding from DCMS and the CIC.

The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out the Government’s objective to build a resilient, skilled and diverse workforce fit for the future. To deliver this, we are working in partnership with the sector, including its trade unions, to create the conditions for sustained economic growth.

Recent discussions with trade unions have focused on the development of the Creative Industries Jobs Plan. The Jobs Plan will comprehensively set out the scale of the workforce challenge in the sector and how government, business and trade unions will work together to address this over the next three years.