Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether legal costs associated with the case between the General Medical Council (GMC) and Anaesthetists United, regarding regulation of Physician and Anaesthesia Associates will be paid for by the Department of Health and Social Care or any other public body.

The Government is funding the General Medical Council (GMC) to undertake the work required to introduce regulations for Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs), to avoid doctors paying for this through their registrant fees.

A longstanding principle underpinning the introduction of statutory regulation for new professions is that all related-costs, including legal challenges to that work, should be funded by the Government, to avoid other professions cross-subsidising the work involved.

Once regulation of AAs and PAs becomes self-funding, the Government will cease funding the GMC.