Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled NHS Financial Support for Health Students (Fourth Edition): NHS Learning Support Fund, published on 29 June 2020, how many regional incentive payments were made to eligible students in areas where there is a workforce shortage in each of the last four years; and whether these payments are still available.

The regional incentive payments that were referenced in the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) fourth edition rules published on 29 June 2020 were not introduced, and therefore no payments have been made. The LSF scheme rules are reviewed annually ahead of each academic year.

To reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of the Government’s five long-term missions.

The Government will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.