Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures (1) train operators, and (2) ferry operators, have to deal with fires caused by batteries in electric vehicles while in transit.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no evidence to suggest that electric vehicle fires are more likely to occur than petrol or diesel vehicle fires.
Electric vehicles are currently only transported by rail via the Eurotunnel. As the infrastructure manager of the Channel Tunnel and operator of its shuttle services, Eurotunnel is responsible for the safety of passengers and has to maintain risk assessments for its operations, including developing procedures specifically for the carriage of EVs. These are regularly assessed and challenged by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority and their inspectors. The safety authorities also facilitate regular dialogue between Eurotunnel and the UK and French emergency services to review operating procedures.
Fire prevention, fire detection, and fire fighting in electric vehicles is a developing area and the Government continually reviews its guidance and regulations in step with the development of best practice.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the cost of training (1) a doctor, and (2) a nurse; and how much of that cost is covered by student loans.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent estimates that the cost of training an individual doctor from the beginning of medical school through to the end of the foundation training programme is approximately £327,000. This includes salaries paid to the trainee during the foundation stage while they are working, living expenses and other costs of training. This includes costs borne by both the wider National Health Service and the individual undertaking the training.
PSSRU estimate the cost of training a nurse to be approximately £67,000. These estimates are published in their Unit Costs of Health and Social Care Manual.
The maximum amount that can be borrowed in student loans by an individual medical student is between £74,000 and £93,000 for a five-year course, depending on the individual’s living arrangements. From year five of an undergraduate course, and from year two of a graduate-entry course, medical students can also access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and comprises payment for tuition fees and, where eligible, further grants and allowances.
The maximum amount that can be borrowed in student loans by an individual nursing student is between £53,000 and £67,000 for a three-year course, depending on the student’s living arrangements. In addition, since September 2020, all eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will be able to (1) zero rate, and (2) exempt, new goods and services from VAT under the terms of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will be able to (1) zero rate, and (2) exempt, additional goods and services from VAT in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will be able to raise the VAT registration threshold in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Windsor Framework establishes new freedoms for the UK to set VAT rates and thresholds in Northern Ireland that go far beyond those available before EU Exit. That includes the ability to zero rate additional goods for VAT.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) timetable, and (2) process, for appointing a new Chair of the Climate Change Committee; and how many applications were received for this post when it was advertised in July 2022.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Department’s Secretary of State makes appointments to the Climate Change Committee jointly with his devolved counterparts. The Committee Chair’s role was first advertised last summer. Due to the limited number of applicants demonstrating sufficient experience, the appointing parties agreed to re-advertise using executive search services. The updated advertisement is due to go live this month.
The role is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. In terms of process, the appointing parties follow the Governance Code for Public Appointments, including establishing an Advisory Assessment Panel that informs Ministers of progress throughout the competition.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many nurses joined the Nursing and Midwife Council Register from countries graded by the World Health Organisation as having fewer nurses than the global median in the most recent year for which figures are available
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates in the United Kingdom. The following table shows the number of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates joining the NMC’s register from each country with fewer nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people than the global median in the year ending 31 March 2022.
Bahrain 4
Bangladesh 1
Barbados 18
Belize 17
Cameroon 17
China 6
Colombia 3
Egypt 13
Eswatini 9
Ethiopia 1
Gambia 12
India 9,769
Iran 19
Iraq 1
Jamaica 115
Jordan 12
Kenya 461
Lebanon 20
Lesotho 18
Malawi 7
Malaysia 20
Namibia 11
Nepal 210
Niger 1
Nigeria 3,010
Pakistan 112
Saint Lucia 13
Sri Lanka 14
Tanzania 1
Tunisia 1
Turkey 2
Uganda 30
Zambia 57
Zimbabwe 913
Notes:
1. The World Health Organization publishes a measure of the number of nurses per 10,000 population. The median for their measure, unweighted by countries population is 35.07 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population.
2. Countries below the median level of nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population where there were no joiners to the NMC register are excluded.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications for nursing courses were (1) received, (2) accepted, and (3) refused, places in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, and (c) 2021, at universities in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The following table shows the number of applications made to a nursing course and subsequent acceptances in England in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Data on the number of applications refused is not held centrally.
2019 2020 2021
Applications 128,810 145,925 181,645
Acceptances 23,630 29,740 30,185
Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service undergraduate sector-level end of cycle data resources 2021.
Note:
An applicant can make up to five separate course applications. Only one place can be accepted.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many nurses were recruited from overseas in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, and (4) in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Kamall
This information is not collected in the format requested. While the National Health Service Electronic Staff Record collects self-reported data on nationality, this does not show where staff were trained or the country in which they were a resident at the time of recruitment.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether universities in England face any financial or other restrictions on the number of nurses they may accept for training; and if so, what are the restrictions.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government does not impose a cap on nurse training places. Higher Education Providers (HEPs) make decisions on their intakes, and these are based on demand from suitable candidates and the ability of education and healthcare systems to provide the necessary capacity (both academic and practise). HEPs receive funding to support the delivery of these courses from student fees, as well as additional support from the Strategic Priorities Grant.
We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses into the NHS by the end of this Parliament. We will achieve this through a combination of investing in and diversifying our training pipeline and recruiting and retaining more nurses in the NHS.
Since September 2020, all eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. Additional funding is also available for studying certain courses, for example mental health and learning disabilities nursing, with further financial support available to students for childcare, accommodation costs and travel costs.
This support package comes in addition to maintenance and tuition fee loans provided by the Student Loans Company. It enables healthcare students to focus on their studies and placements and helps alleviate financial pressures which students might be facing.
Health Education England (HEE) has invested £55 million in expanding clinical placements, including simulated learning capacity. This funding is being provided in addition to £180 million, spent each year by HEE on placements for around 120,000 nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students.