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 effectiveness of (a) EU-derived clinical hour requirements for nurse education and (b) the regulatory framework for nurse education (i) in general and (ii) compared with (A) Australia and (B) other international models.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

To be able to legally work as a nurse in the United Kingdom, individuals must be fully registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international nurses and midwives wishing to be added to the UK register. The NMC sets these standards to ensure registrants are safe to practise and patients receive a high standard of care.

The NMC is updating its pre-registration education programme standards to allow more students to join its register with the skills for safe and effective care. In January 2025, the NMC’s Council approved five key areas for its pre-registration practice learning review. Consultations on changes will take place in early 2026, with new standards effective by September 2026.

In 2023, legislative changes made by the Department to the NMC’s regulatory framework provided the regulator with full flexibility to recognise qualifications for international applicants from around the world. Our regulatory reform programme will further modernise the regulatory frameworks for all the UK healthcare professional regulators, starting with the General Medical Council. This will guide reforms for other healthcare regulators, including the NMC, with plans for implementation within this Parliament.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on cross-Government implementation of (a) proposals for a national evidence-based digital parenting offer and (b) other policies within the Best Start in Life strategy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Giving all babies and children the best start in life is the foundation of the Opportunity Mission and the first step towards delivering the Government’s commitment to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and I have a shared ambition to ensure that every child has a happy, healthy start to life, regardless of background. We discuss the collective progress on delivering policies within the Best Start in Life Strategy through a range of forums, including Opportunity Mission Board meetings and during bilateral conversations.

Together, we recognise the critical role that high-quality, evidence-based parenting support plays in improving childhood outcomes. This includes supporting the Plan for Change target for a record 75% of five-year-olds to reach a good level of development by 2028. In line with this, we continue to discuss the progress made towards delivering a national digital parenting offer, as committed to in the Best Start in Life Strategy.

I look forward to continuing the close collaboration with my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education as we work together to deliver our shared ambitions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) anticipated and (b) actual level of demand for health services was in 2025–26; and whether the actual level of demand has increased in line with the trends since the end of the pandemic.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Demand and costs for health services in 2025/26 was assessed and agreed with HM Treasury through the 2021 Spending Review negotiations, which are not published, as per standard practice. The national analysis takes into account the effect of population ageing and wider demographic changes, and also a range of estimates to understand how particular demand increases will affect the National Health Service, for example the cost of introducing new drugs, treatments, and policies designed to make sure patients are assessed and receive care in the most appropriate setting, for example through neighbourhood health models.

The 2025/26 operational planning guidance sets out the need for integrated care boards and trusts to deliver targets across primary, community, and acute care, including mental health services. It sets out the expectation for NHS organisations to reduce their cost base by at least 1% and to achieve 4% improvement in productivity, in order to deal with demand growth within the finances available and ensure effective demand management.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what engagement his Department has had with (a) universities and (b) higher education providers in developing the new NHS workforce plan.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

We have engaged with a range of partners on shaping the upcoming workforce plan, including universities and higher education providers.

We welcome the fact that so many valued stakeholders are keen to engage in the plan’s development. On 26 September 2025, we launched a formal call for evidence, which provides stakeholders the opportunity to contribute directly to the plan’s development. This closed on 7 November 2025.

The Department of Health and Social Care engages closely with the Department for Education on a wide range of matters, including the upcoming workforce plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Education to support the delivery of the NHS workforce plan.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

We have engaged with a range of partners on shaping the upcoming workforce plan, including universities and higher education providers.

We welcome the fact that so many valued stakeholders are keen to engage in the plan’s development. On 26 September 2025, we launched a formal call for evidence, which provides stakeholders the opportunity to contribute directly to the plan’s development. This closed on 7 November 2025.

The Department of Health and Social Care engages closely with the Department for Education on a wide range of matters, including the upcoming workforce plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Learning Disability Nursing is adequately supported within the new NHS workforce plan.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups, including by engaging with a wide range of partners and valued stakeholders.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned training intakes are for (a) medical school places, (b) GP trainee places, (c) nurses, (d) nursing associates, (e) midwives, (f) pharmacists and (g) dentists in (i) 2025, (ii) 2026, (iii) 2028 and (iv) 2031.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In England, the Office for Students (OfS) sets the maximum fundable limit for medical school and dental school places. For the 2025/26 academic year, the OfS has published its intake target at 8,126 for medical school places and 809 for dental school places, as set out on their website, at the following link:

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/finance-and-funding/medicine-and-dentistry-funding/medical-and-dental-maximum-fundable-limits/

This limit is confirmed on an annual basis. General practice training places are set out annually by NHS England.

Undergraduate training places for nurses, nurse associates, midwives, and pharmacists are not centrally commissioned by the Government, instead they are determined by local employers and education providers who decide the number of learners they admit based on learner demand and provider capacity funding.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan fact sheet, published on 30 June 2023, whether it is his policy to provide £2.4 billion funding for additional education and training places for healthcare professionals over the five years to 2028-29; and how much funding he plans to provide for this purpose in each financial year.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has been clear that the 2023 Long Term Workforce Plan was undeliverable and based on outdated models of care. We have committed to publishing the 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026, which will represent a departure from previous plans and which will instead set out action to create a sustainable workforce that is fit for the future.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups, and the consequent funding arrangements for education and training in the years covered by the 2025 Spending Review. We are committed to working with partners to ensure the plan meets its aims and will engage independent experts to make sure the plan is ambitious, forward looking, and evidence based.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to (a) merge and (b) align the (i) Section 1 (firearms) and (ii) Section 2 (shotgun) licensing systems in the Firearms Act 1968.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

We will be undertaking a public consultation later this year on the greater alignment of the controls on shotguns with other firearms.

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to having a consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns, in the interests of public safety.

We will carefully consider the views put forward to the consultation after it is completed, before deciding what further action to take.