Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on funding of training of the findings of the report by London Economics, The impact of the 2015 comprehensive spending review on higher education fees and funding arrangements in subjects allied to medicine, on the potential effect on participation rates in such training of the replacement of bursaries with loans; and if he will make a statement.

The Government is working with health and higher education delivery organisations to determine an appropriate baseline as part of implementing the reforms.

The Government does not agree with or recognise the figures or findings quoted in the London Economics report.

We need more home-grown nurses so the National Health Service does not have to rely on expensive agency staff or overseas nurses.

At present two thirds of people who apply to become a nurse are not accepted for training. The changes will mean we are able to accept more applicants who get the right grades than we do currently.