Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recruitment and retention figures for the armed forces in year 2022–23; and what steps they are taking to reverse any negative trends.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In 2022-23, Armed Forces recruitment was lower than we would have hoped given a difficult recruiting environment, and outflow was higher than planned. Nevertheless, the Armed Forces continue to meet all their operational commitments.
To address recruitment, a range of tangible short-term deliverables are being actioned to increasing the inflow into Armed Forces recruitment pipelines, all intended to increase the breadth of potential candidates and to drive efficiencies into recruitment systems. These ongoing and new initiatives are focused upon engaging the broad range of skills, experience and diversity needed to deliver that which our nation demands of our Armed Forces; and in the range of roles that are critical to enable this.
On retention, in June 2023 we committed to implementing the recommendations of the Haythornthwaite Review, a generational independent review of how we retain our current people and attract new ones. Its recommendations relate to policies and processes across a complex system of incentivisation and support. A formal Government Response, which will provide more detail on our approach to tackling each recommendation, will be published in early 2024. This will confirm which recommendations have been - or are in the process of being – delivered.
Other initiatives aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of our people include; Flexible Service, which introduces the potential for people to alter their career commitment for set periods of time, allowing more people to remain in the Armed Forces who may otherwise have decided to leave in order to meet competing demands and responsibilities; Wraparound Childcare, which Defence established in recognition of the importance of a robust childcare support system to enable the mobility, recruitment and retention of a Armed Forces personnel; acceptance of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body’s and Senior Salaries Review Body’s recommendations in full, ensuring that the overall remuneration package for Service personnel (which includes a good pension, subsidised accommodation, and a range of allowances on top of basic salary) remains competitive.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the most recent funding settlement for fire and rescue services on (a) recruitment and (b) retention of firefighters.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is due to publish the Final Local Government Finance Settlement 2024/25 in February 2024. Figures from the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement indicate that standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £79.1 million in 2024/25. On average, this is an increase of 4.7 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.
Decisions on how resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the adult social care sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 10 January 2024, the Department announced a package of social care workforce reforms, to help recruit and retain talent by providing new, accredited qualifications, digital training and funded apprenticeships. These plans include the launch of the care workforce pathway, which will provide, for the first time ever, a national career structure for the adult social care workforce, covering the breadth and complexity of care.
In addition, the latest phase of the Made with Care recruitment campaign launched at the start of October 2023, and is running until the end of March 2024. It consists of advertising appearing on catch-up television, social media, radio and online, to highlight the amazing work that staff across the adult social care sector do and motivating suitable candidates to apply.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of GPs in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. We have increased the number of GP training places and 2022 saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board advises that primary care is recognised as the cornerstone of the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS), and that the primary care sector in the ICS has made significant progress over recent years. It has set out key initiatives, including making Birmingham and Solihull a destination for newly qualified doctors and nurses and for existing doctors and nurses to feel valued. The ICS has been cited as an exemplar for the ‘New to Practice Fellowships Scheme’, which offers a two-year programme of support available to all newly-qualified GPs and nurses working substantively in general practice, with an explicit focus on working within and across primary care networks.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain GPs.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. We have increased the number of GP training places and 2022 saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board advises that primary care is recognised as the cornerstone of the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS), and that the primary care sector in the ICS has made significant progress over recent years. It has set out key initiatives, including making Birmingham and Solihull a destination for newly qualified doctors and nurses and for existing doctors and nurses to feel valued. The ICS has been cited as an exemplar for the ‘New to Practice Fellowships Scheme’, which offers a two-year programme of support available to all newly-qualified GPs and nurses working substantively in general practice, with an explicit focus on working within and across primary care networks.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on recruitment and retention of NHS staff.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the retention of physician associates in the NHS in (a) areas with high staff turnover and (b) other areas.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS People Plan and the People Promise set out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention. They provide a strong focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive National Health Service culture by strengthening health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working.
The NHS priorities and operational planning guidance 23/24 has asked systems to refresh their 2022/23 whole system workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise. Staff wellbeing should be strategically aligned with elective recovery plans, including workforce demand and capacity planning. In addition, the NHS Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well.
The Long Term Workforce Plan builds on the People Plan and sets out how to improve culture and leadership to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the next 15 years. This includes: implementing actions from the NHS People Plan that have been shown to be successful; implementing plans to improve flexible opportunities for prospective retirees and delivering the actions needed to modernise the NHS pension scheme; and committing to ongoing national funding for continuing professional development for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, so NHS staff are supported to meet their full potential.
These retention initiatives apply across the country and to all staff groups, including physician associates.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve (a) recruitment and (b) retention of dentists.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we are going to increase dentistry training places by 40% so that there are over 1,100 places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.
As the Workforce Plan sets out, the National Health Service and the Government will explore whether a tie-in would ensure that dentists spend a greater proportion of their time delivering NHS dental care.
We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan, to be published shortly, which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of detectives.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are now a record number of police officers in England and Wales as a result of Police Uplift Programme.
It is clear that forces must continue to focus on recruiting, supporting and retaining detectives.
We therefore welcome the co-ordinated action that police forces, working with the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council are taking to ensure all forces have adequate numbers of detectives to investigate crime. As part of the College’s Policing Education Qualifications Framework, a detective-specific entry route has been created under the Degree Holder Entry Programme to ensure investigators are at the standard required to be as effective as possible.
In addition, the Home Office has provided £5 million to Police Now in 2023/24 to enable forces to recruit and train participants on the National Detective Programme, to help bridge any gap in detective numbers for forces.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) inflow and (b) outflow data for the Regular (i) Royal Navy, (ii) Army and (iii) Royal Air Force are for October to December 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is currently subject to a verification process and will be published in due course with a provisional release date of March 2024 as an Accredited Official Statistic through the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics publication. The latest edition covers the period to 1 October 2023 and can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-index