Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training places for general practice were (a) commissioned and (b) filled in 2014-15 to date.

The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service in England.

In 2014-15 HEE commissioned 3,067 general practitioner (GP) specialty training posts, and 2,688 were filled.

Our mandate to HEE requires them to ensure a minimum of 3,250 trainees per year are recruited to GP training programmes in England by 2016. There are now 36,294 full time equivalent GPs working and training in the NHS, an increase of over 1,000 since September 2010.

In January, a £10 million investment was announced to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. The plan covers a wide range of measures to recruit more aspiring medical students to take up a career in general practice, retain those doctors already working there, and provide support for those GPs who have taken a career break to get back into work.