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 effect on the number of overseas doctors coming to work in the NHS of placing new applicants to the Medical Training Initiative on a revised waiting list from countries not considered priority as identified by the Department for International Development.

The main focus of the Medical Training Initiative (MTI) is to provide training opportunities for doctors from the Department for International Development (DfID) and Lower Income and Lower Middle Income priority countries.

There are 1,000 MTI Certificate of Sponsorships available per year and the majority of these will be allocated to applicants from countries on the DfID approved priority list and Lower Income and Lower Middle Income priority countries.

Applicants from countries not considered DfID priority or Lower Income and Lower Middle Income countries may still apply for the MTI. If there is any remaining capacity at the end of each month having processed all applications from DfID priority and Lower Income and Lower Middle Income countries, other applicants will be awarded a Certificate of Sponsorship taken in order of the receipt of their application.