Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing migrants with settled status to vote in general elections and referenda.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no plans to change the voting rights of foreign nationals. There are no set rules regarding who can vote in a UK-wide referendum. Instead, the franchise for each referendum is determined on a case-by-case basis by Parliament in the legislation providing for that referendum.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to allow migrant nurses who are not employed by the NHS to qualify for indefinite leave to remain after 5 years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises and values the important contribution that nurses make to the UK and our National Health Service.
The earned settlement public consultation ran for 12 weeks and closed on 12 February 2026. We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any potential exemptions or transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.
Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly. As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both an economic impact assessment and equality impact assessment which we will publish as well as the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of including international medical graduates who are GMC-registered and who have at least two years’ NHS experience by 5 March 2026 in the prioritisation for specialty training.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 5 March 2026, prioritises United Kingdom medical graduates and other doctors with significant National Health Service experience for specialty training places.
For specialty training places starting in 2026, immigration statuses are being used as a practical proxy to capture applicants who are most likely to have significant experience working in the health service in the UK.
From 2027, immigration status will no longer automatically determine priority for specialty training. Instead, we are able to make regulations to specify any additional groups who will be prioritised by reference to criteria indicating significant experience as a doctor in the health service, or by reference to immigration status. The Department will work with NHS England, the devolved administrations, and other partners on how best to define and evidence significant NHS experience as part of the development of those regulations.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that patient experience data and intelligence is independently aggregated and analysed following the abolition of local Healthwatch.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the abolition of local Healthwatch, our proposals are that integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities (LAs) will have the responsibility for gathering views, and feedback from local people about health and social care services respectively in their area.
ICBs and LAs will be required to take these views into account when looking at their commissioning strategies to ensure these meet the needs of local people. They will also be required to demonstrate that they have done so.
However, these proposals require primary legislation. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that human, qualitative patient insight is not displaced by digital, survey-based and institution-led feedback once local Healthwatch is abolished.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Dash Review of the patient safety landscape published in July 2025, and in the 10-Year Health Plan, the statutory functions of local Healthwatch bodies will be transferred to integrated care boards (ICBs) for health, and to local authorities (LAs) for social care.
Both ICBs and LAs will be required to demonstrate how they have gathered patient and user feedback from local people including those who do not have access to digital platforms, those who are less proficient with technology, and people for whom English is a second language.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken towards bringing the provisions in the Freehold Reform Act 2024 into force.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103549 on 14 January 2026 and to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278).
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a) waiving and b) subsidising the cost of the first six to eight (i) preliminary and (ii) core examinations for junior doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of waiving or subsidising the cost of the first six to eight preliminary and/or core examinations for resident, previously “junior”, doctors.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, made two offers to the British Medical Association (BMA) Resident Doctors Committee in 2025 to try to resolve its ongoing industrial disputes. These including provisions to reimburse fees for mandatory royal college examinations to resident doctors in England. However, the BMA rejected these offers.
The Government remains determined to put an end to the damaging cycles of disruption caused by strike action and is holding talks with the BMA to resolve the disputes.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill on British citizens who have already commenced undergraduate medical degrees overseas on the understanding that they would be able to return to the UK to complete their Foundation Programme; and what plans he has to implement transitional protections and assurances to safeguard their training prospects and future careers in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Subject to the parliamentary passage of the bill, British citizens who have graduated from medical schools outside of the United Kingdom will not be prioritised for foundation training places if they spent the majority of their time studying outside the British Islands.
The Government does not plan to implement transitional protections or assurances in relation to these applicants. Prioritisation does not mean exclusion. Non-prioritised graduates will still be able to apply for foundation training places, and they will be offered places if vacancies remain after prioritised applicants have received offers.