Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion GPs were not in General Practice in England one year after receipt of their Certificate of Completion of Training in each of the most recent five years for which data are available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Thanks to actions taken by the Government, we have the highest number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) since 2015, at 30,038 full time equivalent in February 2026. Leaver rates also remain low by historical standards, at 7.5% in December 2024 to December 2025.
The following table shows the total and proportion of Specialty Trainee Year 3 (ST3) GPs not seen in the National Workforce Reporting Service (NWRS) within one year of the last appearance in the ST3 role, from March 2020 to December 2024:
Quarter last seen in ST3 role (year/month) | Total ST3 GPs not yet seen in NWRS within one year of last appearance in ST3 role | Proportion of ST3 GPs not seen in NWRS within one year of last appearance in ST3 role |
2020/03 | 84 | 44% |
2020/06 | 621 | 44% |
2020/09 | 187 | 50% |
2020/12 | 278 | 53% |
2021/03 | 166 | 55% |
2021/06 | 796 | 51% |
2021/09 | 264 | 63% |
2021/12 | 292 | 54% |
2022/03 | 182 | 58% |
2022/06 | 762 | 52% |
2022/09 | 246 | 60% |
2022/12 | 310 | 52% |
2023/03 | 215 | 56% |
2023/06 | 740 | 46% |
2023/09 | 270 | 51% |
2023/12 | 298 | 44% |
2024/03 | 216 | 53% |
2024/06 | 681 | 38% |
2024/09 | 262 | 40% |
2024/12 | 331 | 43% |
Notes:
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department's estimate of local authorities’ projected SEND deficits in 2028/29 assumes that 6.8% of pupils will have an EHCP in the academic year 2027/8, 7.3% in academic year 2028/9 and 7.7% in academic year 2029/30.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Office for Budget Responsibility, as the independent authority, publishes estimates of future spend.
From 2028/29, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) spending will be covered by the overall government departmental expenditure limit budget, meaning local authorities are not expected to fund future SEND costs from general funds once the Statutory Override ends at the end of 2027/28.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total historic SEND deficits accrued in local authorities in England up to the end of (a) 2024/5 and (b) 2025/6; and what estimate she has made of the level of funding that will be required from central government to offset these historic SEND deficits.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We have set out plans to address Dedicated Schools Grant deficits up to the end of 2025/26, providing grants to cover 90% of each council’s deficit as at 31 March 2026, once they have produced and received approval for a strong plan to drive sustained and energetic action. This is in accordance with our new system set out in the Schools White Paper, which will begin to improve outcomes for children and bring costs under control through effective early intervention stopping needs from escalating.