Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on proposals to reduce reliance on resident doctors in response to industrial action.

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

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government has committed to create a new model of care, fit for the future. In spring we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver that transformed service.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan has been developed and is informed by regular discussions with NHS England and will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate changes for different professional groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of NHS appointments and procedures postponed due to the resident doctors’ strike beginning on 7 April 2026.

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

NHS England routinely publishes information on postponed inpatient and outpatient appointments during periods of industrial action, and this information will be published in due course. Further information will be available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/preparedness-for-potential-industrial-action-in-the-nhs/#heading-3

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department ahs provided dedicated support has been provided to West Northamptonshire Council in the context of the Local Road Maintenance Ratings 2025 to 2026; and whether a peer review has been commissioned.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As part of the publication of the local road maintenance ratings for 2025/26, the Department for Transport confirmed that it will provide red-rated authorities with a dedicated support programme to help improve local outcomes. This is in the form of expert-led peer reviews, through which sector experts will work collaboratively with authorities to identify areas where performance could be enhanced. The Department has commissioned the Local Government Association to deliver these reviews.

West Northamptonshire received an overall red rating under the Departments’ road maintenance rating system, with underlying scorecards showing red for condition, amber for spend, and red for best practice. The authority is therefore eligible for this support offer. The Department has written to all red-rated authorities to arrange the peer reviews and the review for West Northamptonshire will be conducted during the 2026/27 financial year.

The Department recognises that historic levels of investment have made it difficult for authorities to maintain their roads in the way that they would want to. Therefore, alongside providing this dedicated support to red-rated authorities, the Department has also confirmed a record, £7.3 billion investment into local highways maintenance for the next four years. This will allow local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road and local highways network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of final-year students from (a) Queen Mary University of London Malta, (b) Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia and (c) the City St George’s, University of London medical degree programme delivered at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus who applied for the 2026 UK Foundation Programme; how many of those students were allocated an FY1 post in the primary allocation round; and how many were placed on the reserve list.

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

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which came into force on 6 March 2026, implements the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training places, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with significant National Health Service experience for specialty training places. Under the act, a UK medical graduate is defined as someone with a UK primary medical qualification who did not spend the majority of their time training for that qualification outside the British Islands.

In 2026, there were more applicants to foundation training than places available, and only prioritised applicants were allocated to a foundation school in the primary allocation. No applicants from the Queen Mary University of London Malta (QMUL Malta), the Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed Malaysia), and the City St George’s, University of London medical degree programme delivered at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus were allocated at primary allocation as they are not in a prioritised group.

The following table shows the number of applicants from these campuses that applied to the Foundation Programme in 2026, and that were placed on the reserve list on 12 March 2026:

Non-prioritised applicants who are on the reserve list may still be allocated a place on the Foundation Programme in later rounds, depending on available vacancies that arise.