Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure student nurses who were contracted to work during the covid-19 outbreak are compensated for the hours they have been contracted to work.

The Government is extremely grateful to all student nurses who have supported the COVID-19 response, by opting into a paid placement for their time in practice at the frontline during the pandemic.

We have ensured that all students who do so are rewarded fairly for their hard work. NHS England has been funding the support to trusts where the contracts are held and Health Education England (HEE) has been brokering appropriate placements between the university and trust.

It was always made clear to these students that the arrangements would need to come to an end at an appropriate point and Health Education England, NHS England and NHS Improvement have agreed appropriate transition arrangements for all students in paid placements.

Any student in the last six months of their programme on a paid placement will be paid until the end of their contract, unless otherwise agreed. By the end of July most final year students can qualify as registered nurses and start full time work, increasing their pay.

For students in year two or the first part of their final year, employers and universities will work with them to aim to bring paid placements to a close no later than 31 August. This will be part of a voluntary learning agreement between student, placement provider and university.