§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student nurses received(a) hardship loans and (b) NHS hardship grants in each of the last three years, and how many have been made in the current year. [17219]
§ Mr. HuttonThe hardship loans that student nurses in receipt of the means tested national health service bursary are eligible to apply for, are funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) through the allocations made to higher education institutions by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. NHS education and training commissioners (work force development confederations) are required to allocate funds for the purpose of providing NHS hardship grants for students experiencing financial difficulties and who have exhausted all other sources of support.
The Department does not routinely monitor take-up of either form of hardship support. However, evidence from the DfES 1998–99 student income and expenditure survey indicated around 2 per cent. of NHS students claiming access/hardship support. These data are supported by information the Department gathered during 1999, which reported a total of 105 payments of NHS hardship grants (that is to say payments to fewer than 1 per cent. of eligible students).