§ Ms Rosie WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students are(a) studying for degrees in podiatry and (b) training in chiropody; how many have qualified in each of the last five years; and what the cost of training is. [147269]
§ Mr. DenhamI have been asked to reply.
Funding for chiropody/podiatry was transferred from the Department for Education and Employment in 1998–99. In 2000–01 we commissioned 364 training places for chiropody/podiatry degrees.
Data are not collected centrally on the numbers of students who qualify.
In 1999–2000, £4.4 million was spent on chiropody/ podiatry pre-registration training. The forecast spend for 2000–01 is £5.9 million.