Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the equity of the Government’s tax-free childcare offer to student nurses who do not have job-related income.

Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. To be eligible for TFC, applicants need to expect to be in paid work.

With regard to student nurses, the government keeps the funding arrangements for all NHS health professionals’ education under close review, to ensure that students are appropriately supported.

The government has already introduced new maintenance funding for many healthcare courses. In September 2020, the Department for Health and Social Care introduced the new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year, for all eligible new and continuing pre-registration nursing, midwifery and most allied health profession students studying at English universities.

There is a further £2,000 available for parental support, available for eligible students attending a full-time pre-registration healthcare course. More information can be found at https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund/parental-support-formerly-child-dependants-allowance.

This grant is in addition to funding provided by the Students Loan Company.

For further financial support, and as part of the biggest nursing, midwifery and Allied Health Professional recruitment drive in decades, since September 2020 we have made available:

• A new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year for eligible students.
• Further funding of up to £3,000 per academic year is also available to eligible students, for example to cover childcare costs or for specialisms struggling to recruit.
• This new grant of at least £5,000 is in addition to maintenance and tuition fee loans provided by the Student Loans Company.

This generous support package enables healthcare students to focus on their studies and placements and contributes to alleviating any financial pressures students might be facing.