Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure access to Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy training in the North of England.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Employers across the health system are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective care. NHS England commissions four-year Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy training in response to service demand. Across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire regions, this includes 20 new training starts planned for 2026/27, alongside a further 36 trainees continuing from previous years.

To support equitable access into the profession, NHS England also funds pre-clinical training to widen participation for those who may otherwise be unable to meet the costs of mandatory entry requirements. For 2026/27, this includes 27 new starts across the north of England, with 17 trainees continuing from previous years.

Following the decision by the Northern School of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, part of the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, to withdraw from pre-clinical training provision, NHS England is ensuring access to alternative providers and working with stakeholders on a sustainable long-term solution for the North.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of transferring responsibility for appointing NHS Foundation Trust Chairs and Non-Executive Directors from locally elected governors to central bodies.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Governors at the 141 National Health Service foundation trusts are currently responsible for appointing their trusts’ chairs and non-executive directors. Subject to the will of Parliament, the Health Bill will transfer this power to my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. We will publish our intended approach to making these appointments in due course which will support foundation trusts to plan and make arrangements in good time ahead of the transfer being made.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, while governors have provided helpful advice and oversight for some foundation trusts, we expect the next generation of foundation trusts to put in place more responsive and flexible arrangements for drawing on patient, staff and stakeholder insight. Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, providers should develop engagement arrangements that reflect their local populations, geographies and healthcare needs.