Spending Review Cross-departmental Planning 2025-05-20
2025-05-20
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
UK medical graduates face intense competition with overseas graduates for postgraduate training positions, leading to many domestic graduates being unable to progress in their careers within the UK.
Some 9,000 UK medical graduates compete with 15,000 overseas graduates for postgraduate training, meaning that many of our own graduates simply cannot progress into higher professional training, and either go abroad themselves or leave medicine. Does the Minister agree that the Treasury has a crucial role to co-ordinate spending on medical university education by the Department for Education and on postgraduate training by the Department of Health and Social Care, so as to ensure that public money spent on medical student education is not wasted?
The Government are committed to training the staff the NHS needs as part of our 10-year plan. International staff clearly play an important role in the mix of staff that we have, but we also want to create opportunities for people across the country to work in our national health service. That is why, thanks to changes this Government have made, we have already been able to recruit more than 1,500 additional GPs since October who would otherwise not have been able to seek that type of employment.
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Assessment & feedback
Coordination between the Treasury and other departments on medical education spending was not directly addressed. The answer focused on recruitment efforts rather than coordination on funding allocation.
Response accuracy
Q2
Direct Answer
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Context
Agriculture faces financial challenges due to energy costs, affecting its ability to operate efficiently and sustainably.
While discussing the spending review, will the Treasury get the Agriculture Secretary and the Energy Secretary together in the same room, and make sure that agriculture receives the funding it needs and that energy is not allowed to charge agriculture, effectively, for its loss of income? In other words, will the Chancellor ensure we are not robbing Peter to pay Paul?
A meeting of that nature has already taken place as part of our mission-led approach to Government. We continue to engage with the Departments for Energy Security and Net Zero and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on these issues, as the right hon. Gentleman suggests—it is exactly what we mean when we talk about cross-departmental collaboration. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, further details will be set out in the spending review in due course.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy