Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to lay regulations implementing sections 148 and 149 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015; and what plans they have to propose changes to existing regulations to bring student nurses in the National Health Service within the scope of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

The Government intends to bring forward regulations to bring Section 148 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 into effect from April 2016, and Section 149 by December 2015 subject to Parliamentary approval.

The Protected Disclosures (Extension of Meaning of Worker) Order 2015 (SI 2015/491) came into effect on 6 April 2015, bringing student nurses and student midwives into the definition of ‘worker’ for the purposes of Section 43K of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

This change affects those student nurses and student midwives who undertake work experience as part of a course of education or training approved by, or under arrangements with, the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

In line with the recommendation set out in the Freedom to Speak Up review the Department of Health intends to bring forward further secondary legislation to extend the definition to include other healthcare students.