Labour to stage Commons ambush in bid to prevent further cuts to nursing bursaries
2 min read
Labour is set to pile pressure on Jeremy Hunt to save nursing bursaries by exploiting the Conservative partnership with the DUP.
Using an arcane parliamentary tactic known as 'praying against regulations', the opposition will force a vote on regulations that are set to see postgraduate support scrapped.
The DUP - whose 10 MPs prop Theresa May up in government - have defended student bursaries in Northern Ireland, where responsibility for health is devolved to Stormont.
Labour hopes that will pile pressure on the DUP MPs to vote with them when the issue comes before the Commons after the Easter break recess.
The Tories have already abolished the NHS bursary for most undergraduate nursing courses - meaning trainees face being saddled with student loans of around £9,000 a year.
Ministers had sought to avoid a Commons showdown by trying to abolish post-graduate and part time bursaries through secondary legislation.
After winning the right to force a binding vote, Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner told the Huffington Post: “Scrapping NHS bursaries was both regressive and counterproductive, fuelling a recruitment crisis in our NHS and worsening inequality.
“Now ministers are extending the cuts to yet more nursing courses, and they tried to sneak this latest move through without letting it even go to the Commons.
“That is why we have forced this vote. If Tory MPs really want to protect the NHS, they should vote for it.”
Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth added: “We already have a workforce crisis across the NHS and abolishing bursaries is making the staffing crisis worse. Labour is fighting this regressive cut at every step and calling on ministers to reverse this policy and restore funding support so we can recruit for the future.”
And Unison head of health Sara Gorton said: “The Government needs to admit it got this one very wrong.
“Official figures show that government penny-pinching is deterring a whole generation of nurses and other health professionals from their chosen career in the NHS."
A Government equality analysis suggested the prospect of racking up student debt could put off poorer applicants and black and ethnic minority groups from taking on a nursing degree.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Nursing, midwifery and allied health profession courses are already oversubscribed which means talented students are having their applications rejected.
“These funding changes have already led to 10,000 extra training places, meaning more staff working in the NHS than ever before and importantly, students will receive 25% more financial support whilst studying than before.”
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
